Artwork
Sunday
Sunday is an oil painting by the Luminist artist Gustave De Smet. It dates from 1921 and is held in the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a domestic scene featuring a woman, a man, a flag of the Netherlands, and a house, symbolizing everyday life and national identity. The flag introduces a layer of patriotic symbolism, while the domestic setting grounds the work in ordinary social reality.
Technique & Style
Created in 1921, Sunday is an oil painting executed on canvas by Gustave De Smet. The work measures 179.5 cm in height and 139 cm in width. Stylistically, the composition depicts a scene featuring a man, a woman, a house, and a flag of the Netherlands. The piece is currently held in the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp.
History & Provenance
The painting Sunday by Gustave De Smet is held in the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, accessioned as inventory number 1921.
Sunday was created in 1921 by the Belgian artist Gustave De Smet as an oil painting on canvas. The work entered the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, where it remains housed. The painting’s inception is recorded as 1 January 1921, and it measures 179.5 cm in height by 139 cm in width.
No further details regarding its original commission, early ownership, or subsequent provenance are provided in the available sources.
The painting Sunday by Gustave De Smet is held in the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, accessioned as inventory number 1921.01.
It has not been identified in the documented exhibition history associated with the museum’s holdings for this work.
Overview
Gustave De Smet’s 1921 oil painting Sunday presents a compact, brightly colored scene rendered in a flattened, decorative manner. The composition features a house, a Dutch flag, and a small group of figures, including two women in vivid dresses, a man in a dark hat, and an additional indistinct presence. The work exemplifies the luminist tendency toward luminous, segmented color fields.
Context
At the time of its execution, De Smet was integrating elements of German Expressionism and Cubism into a distinctly Flemish idiom. Sunday illustrates this synthesis, combining expressive, simplified figures with a structured, almost architectural arrangement of color blocks, situating the work within the broader European avant‑garde currents of the early 1920s.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Gustave Franciscus De Smet, also known as Gustaaf De Smet and Gust De Smet (21 January 1877 – 8 October 1943) was a Belgian painter and printmaker.
