Anna Rosalie Boch (10 February 1848 – 25 February 1936) was a
Belgian painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
, born in
Saint-Vaast,
Hainaut. Anna Boch died in
Ixelles
( French, ) or ( Dutch, ), is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Brussels' city centre, it is geographically bisected by the City of Brussels. It is also bordered by the mun ...
in 1936 and is interred there in the
Ixelles Cemetery,
Brussels, Belgium
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 ...
.
Artistic style
Boch participated in the
Neo-Impressionist
Neo-Impressionism is a term coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat's most renowned masterpiece, ''A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'', marked the beginni ...
movement. Her early works used a
Pointillist
Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image.
Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism" ...
technique, but she is best known for her
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 passag ...
style which she adopted for most of her career. A pupil of
Isidore Verheyden, she was influenced by
Théo van Rysselberghe
Théophile "Théo" van Rysselberghe (23 November 1862 – 13 December 1926) was a Belgian Neo-impressionism, neo-impressionist Painting, painter, who played a pivotal role in the European art scene at the turn of the twentieth century.
Bi ...
whom she met in the
Groupe des XX.
Collection
Besides her own paintings, Boch held one of the most important collections of Impressionist paintings of her time. She promoted many young artists, including
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...
, whom she admired for his talent and who was a friend of her brother
Eugène Boch. ''
La Vigne Rouge'' (''The Red Vineyard''), purchased by Anna Boch, is believed to be the only painting Van Gogh sold during his lifetime. The Anna Boch collection was sold after her death. In her will, she donated the money to pay for the retirement of poor artist friends.
Legacy
140 of her own paintings were left to her godchild Ida van Haelewijn, the daughter of her gardener. Many of these paintings show Ida van Haelewijn as a little girl in the garden. In 1968, these 140 paintings were purchased by her great nephew Luitwin von Boch, the CEO of
Villeroy & Boch
Villeroy & Boch (, ) is a German manufacturer of ceramics, with the company headquarters located in Mettlach, Saarland.
History
The company began in the tiny Lorraine village of Audun le Tiche, where the iron master François Boch set up a po ...
Ceramics. The paintings remained in the house of Ida van Haelewijn until her death in 1992. The Anna & Eugène Boch Expo opened 30 March 2011.
Some paintings were also donated by Anna Boch's will to various museums like the
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They include six museums: the Oldmasters Muse ...
.
Different exhibitions of her life and work were held at the at
Morlanwelz
Morlanwelz (; wa, Marlanwé) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
On 1 January 2006 Morlanwelz had a total population of 18,595. The total area is 20.26 km2 which gives a population density of 918 inhab ...
, between October at December 2000 or in the Vincent van Gogh-huis in
Hoogeveen
Hoogeveen (; nds-nl, 't Ogeveine or '' 't Oveine'') is a municipality and a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe.
Population centres
Elim, Fluitenberg, Hoogeveen and Noordscheschut, which still have the canals which used to be throughout ...
in 2010.
Her name is associated with famous museums like the
Pushkin Museum
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (russian: Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина, abbreviated as ) is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just oppo ...
in Moscow, the
Musée d'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French ar ...
in Paris or the in
Zundert
Zundert () is a municipality and town in the south of the Netherlands bordering Belgium, in the province of North Brabant.
Zundert is the birthplace of post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.
History
The name of Zundert is first mentione ...
, the Netherlands.
Cultural heritage
In 2005, the Belgian historian Dr Therèse Thomas published a catalogue raisonné.
In 2010, a great great great nephew of Anna Boch and Dr Therèse Thomas created the Anna Boch.com website.
Since 2011, the website is edited from the Cremerie de Paris, a brand expo center located at the
Hotel de Villeroy near the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the '' Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central ...
.
References
Sources
* P. & V. Berko, ''Dictionary of Belgian painters born between 1750 & 1875'', Knokke 1981, p. 51.
External links
*
Anna Boch.com- includes painting reproductions
*
Anna Bochat The Athenaeum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boch, Anna
1848 births
1936 deaths
People from La Louvière
Post-impressionist painters
Belgian women painters
Burials at Ixelles Cemetery
19th-century Belgian women artists
20th-century Belgian women artists
19th-century Belgian painters
20th-century Belgian painters