Café Bentos

This series of photographs concerns paintings (probably all on canvas) made by Achilles De Maertelaere for the decoration of a café.
It concerns the Bentos café in the Lammerstraat 15 in Ghent. This café was kept by circus artist Bento. In 1934 Bentos opened a second café with the same name on the corner of Wondelgemstraat and Filips Van Cleeflaan, near the Rabot. This café still exists. In the latter café two works by A. De Maertelaere ("Vandaag is 't hutsepot" and "De dagbladlezer") (Today is stew and The daily paper reader) (genre scenes) would have hung.
There is no date known for the photographs and paintings, although we suggest to date it (by the signature on the one hand, the style on the other hand and by the fact that a new café was opened in 1934) to the period before 1920, as Achille De Maertelaere from the non usually signs with his artist's name 'Bentos'.
Some parts were signed A.D.M., others Achille De Maertelaere. On the identification photos, A. De Maertelaere mentions a title and sometimes also the place where the work was hung, such as "nevens den toog" (next to the bar).
A canvas of the work North America was presented in auctions, assigned to Achilles De Maertelaere, with the description "North American Landscape with two native Indians bartering with Cowboy"; presumably this is the left side of the painting above.
A fragment of the work "Japan" also appeared at auctions, called "Le pousse-pousse" (The rickshaw).