Albert Claes-Thobois (Claes-Florian) was born in Ixelles in 1883 and died in Schaerbeek in 1945. He was a painter, draughtsman, watercolourist and wood engraver. At the Academy in Brussels, he was a pupil of C. Montald and H. Richier (1896-1897 and 1901-1903). After an Impressionist period, he went through a Cubist period with a clear influence from Russian Modernism. The artist illustrated poems by A. Verhaeren (Les heures d'après-midi, 1923). He exhibited in various galleries, including the Le Centaure gallery in Brussels in 1922, with L'Esthétique Nouvelle in Brussels in 1921 and the Cercle Littéraire de Bruxelles in 1925. His painting Place Ambiorix avec fontaine (1923) is included in the collection of the Museum in Brussels.