Alfred Jacques Verwee (23 April 1838, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode – 15 September 1895, Schaerbeek) was a Belgian painter known for his depictions of animals, landscapes and seascapes.

Life

His father was the painter

Louis-Pierre Verwee Louis-Pierre Verwee or Louis Pierre Verwée (Kortrijk, 19 March 1807 – City of Brussels, Brussels, November 1877) was a Belgians, Belgian painter known for his rural landscapes with cattle and winter landscapes.Louis-Charles Verwee Louis-Charles Verwée or Louis Charles Verwee (3 July 1832 – 9 July 1882) was a Belgian painter known for his interior scenes, genre scenes and glamorous society portraits. His genre scenes show romantic intrigues and young society ladies.

would become a painter as well. He was originally trained to be a surveyor, but could not complete his engineering studies due to family financial difficulties. Painting had long been a hobby so, with his father's support, he began to pursue that as a career. One of his earliest influences was the French artist Constant Troyon, a member of the Barbizon school. In 1853, he took lessons from the landscape and portrait painter François Charles Deweirdt (1799-1855), who had been a friend and collaborator of his father's. He later enrolled at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, but attended only a few classes. Alfred Verwee 052

His first exhibition was in 1857, but he didn't achieve true recognition until 1863, when he had a show at the Brussels Salon, where he was awarded a gold medal. He won another gold medal at the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

in 1864. On the advice of professional acquaintances, he settled in Paris and made contact with more painters of the Barbizon school. This didn't lead to the expected financial success, however, and he returned to Brussels a year later. Then, from 1867 to 1868, he lived in London but, again, commercial success was unobtainable and he returned home broke. Despite this, he married and then undertook a tour of the Netherlands. That same year, he became a founding member of the "

Société Libre des Beaux-Arts The Société Libre des Beaux-Arts ("Free Society of Fine Arts") was an organization formed in 1868 by Belgian artists to react against academicism and to advance Realist painting and artistic freedom. Based in Brussels, the society was active un ...

", a group that was opposed to academicism in art. During this time, he began painting plein air to achieve a naturalistic style. From 1875 to 1880, he attempted to create a grand vision of the Flemish countryside. In 1876, he helped establish "La Chrysalide", a short-lived association that is considered a forerunner to " Les XX". Two years later he,

François Musin François-Etienne Musin (4 October 1820, Ostend - 24 October 1888, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode) was a Belgian painter who specialized in seascapes and scenes of coastal landscapes, rivers and harbours.Louis Dubois,

Amédée Lynen Amédée Ernest Lynen (1852–1938), who often signed his works Am. Lynen, was a Belgian painter, illustrator and writer. In 1880, he was one of the founders of the artistic group L'Essor (artist group), L'Essor after it had separated from the aca ...

and others were invited by the architectural firm of ''Naert and Laureys'' to provide decorations for a new spa in Ostend. The hall he decorated is now known as the "Verwee-zaal".

Art and business in Knokke

Around 1880, he became fascinated with the area surrounding Knokke, and an informal artists' colony slowly took root there. At the time, he began alternating between landscape and animal painting, doing the landscapes plein air and posing the animals in his studio. He is generally considered to be Belgium's first great animal painter. By 1887, he saw that Knokke could become a major tourist attraction, so he joined with two local businessmen to purchase a large tract of dunes and

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...

s to subdivide for property developers. In 1888, he built a villa, the "Fleur des Dunes" and, in 1891, joined with his friend,

Paul Parmentier Paul Eugène Parmentier (15 February 1854, Brussels – 22 August 1902, Knokke) was a Belgian painter; known for his landscapes, seascapes and scenes with animals. Biography He came from a wealthy family. His father, , owned a cotton factory ...

, to create "Knokke-Attractions", a promotional firm. Alfred Verwee 035

His health began to deteriorate in 1892. First, he suffered from

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...

, then was diagnosed with throat cancer. In 1895, he travelled to Southern France, Algeria and Egypt in hopes of finding a warm, dry climate that would improve his health. A few weeks before his death, his friends brought him back to Knokke and he died at his home in Schaerbeek.

External links

ArtNet: More paintings by Verwee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verwee, Alfred 1838 births 1895 deaths People from Saint-Josse-ten-Noode 19th-century Belgian painters 19th-century Belgian male artists

Life

Art and business in Knokke

Further reading

External links