Forest view in the Calmeynbos in De Panne - Oil on canvas by Stef Ringoot

About "Forest view in the Calmeynbos in De Panne - Oil on canvas"

by Stef Ringoot

About the artwork

The summer sun shines through the trees in this view of the Calmeynbos in De Panne (Belgium - West Flanders) - Painted by Belgian artist Pieter Ringoot around 1980 - Oil on canvas. The original work has a size of 40x50 cm

Pieter Ringoot was not someone who really liked travelling far abroad. Going on holiday was something the family usually just did on the Belgian coast. However, he never left without a sketchbook and some painting supplies. (Something I, as Pieter's grandson and custodian of the works, never do either, by the way.) The result of this are several mostly impressionist works painted in the vicinity of the West Flemish coastal towns of De Panne and Oostduinkerke.

The Calmeynbos is located in the territory of De Panne. The forest is bisected by the Kerkstraat, which forms the connection between De Panne and Adinkerke.

The eastern part of the forest belongs to the municipality of De Panne and joins the Oosthoek dunes. The western part of the Calmeynbos is owned by the Intercommunal Waterworks of Veurne-Ambacht.

The forest was planted in 1903, partly on dunes with intact relief, partly on levelled former fields. This was done on the initiative of agricultural engineer Maurice Calmeyn. He was interested in the growth potential of trees in calcareous dunes and therefore had an 85-hectare deciduous forest planted.

Since 1935, the forest has been protected as a landscape and is also part of the Natura 2000 network as part of 'Dune areas including IJzer estuary and Zwin' (source; wikipedia)