Auguste Charles Louis Oleffe (17 April 1867,

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode () or Sint-Joost-ten-Node (), often simply called Saint-Josse or Sint-Joost, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the Ci ...

– 14 November 1931,

Auderghem Auderghem (former Dutch spelling, now used in French; pronounced ) or Oudergem () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium). Located to the southeast of the region, along the Woluwe valley and at the entrance to t ...

) was a Belgian

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

painter. He is also associated with a type of

Fauvism Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...

that originated in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Biography

He studied at the and the . Upon completing his studies, he worked as a

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

and

draftsman A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for m ...

. He visited Paris in 1890, to improve his skills. He was married in 1891. From 1895 to 1902, he and his wife spent time with the

still-life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, boo ...

painter, Louis Thevenet, on the coast near Nieuwpoort, where he painted

seascape A seascape is a photograph, painting, or other work of art which depicts the sea, in other words an example of marine art. The word originated as a formation from landscape, which was first used of images of land in art. By a similar devel ...

s and the activities of the fishermen. In 1898, together with Thevenet, he created an artistic society known as '. Its earliest members included Charles Dehoy, Willem Paerels and Ferdinand Schirren. Eventually, it had fifty members, but was disbanded in 1907. In 1906, he settled in Auderghem; in a house he had acquired through an inheritance. There he painted portraits of his family members and friends from the art world, many of which were purchased by museums throughout Belgium. After making friends with in 1912, they established a circle of artists organized around his old school, L'Effort. The art critic, , would later refer to the group as the "", to distinguish them from the original "Parisian Fauvists", whose works employed brighter color contrasts. Many Belgian artists were influenced by their style, including

Anne-Pierre de Kat Anne Pierre de Kat (1 May 1881 – 25 July 1968) was a Belgian painter. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics. References 1881 births 1968 deaths 20th-century Belgian painters ...

Jean Brusselmans Jean Brusselmans (1884-1953) was a Belgian painter. He developed his own style and, whereas he is often considered a representative of Flemish Expressionism, he refused to associate himself with any art movement. He was not very well known during h ...

, and

Rik Wouters Hendrik Emil (Rik) Wouters (21 August 1882 – 11 July 1916) was a Belgium, Belgian painter, sculptor and draughtsman. Wouters produced 200 paintings, drawings and sculptures in his 34 years before his illness-caused death. he died partway th ...

, although he died before having a chance to develop it fully.

Sources

* Pierre Loy, ''Rétrospective Auguste Oleffe : 1867-1931'', exhibition catalog, Centre culturel d'Auderghem, 1972 * Serge Goyens de Heusch, ''L’impressionnisme et le fauvisme en Belgique'', Fonds Mercator/Albin Michel, 1988

External links

A brief history of his home
on what is now the ' in Auderghem @ the Internet Archive
More works by Oleffe
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Oleffe, Auguste 1867 births 1931 deaths Belgian painters Belgian Impressionist painters People from Saint-Josse-ten-Noode