Jean Colin, schilderend aan zee, ca 1915

Jean Colin (1881–1961) was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

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 ...

most known for his

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

, nudes, and

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

paintings. He was a pupil of

Isidore Verheyden Isidore Verheyden (24 January 1846, in Antwerp – 1 November 1905, in Elsene) was a Belgian painter of landscapes, portraits and still life. He was the son of painter Jean-François Verheyden; his first teacher at the Académie Royale de ...

, one of the great

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

masters of the 19th century. Colin was also considered a contemporary of

Philippe Swyncop Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince Philippe, Count o ...

, who shared Colin's talent for producing intense life in his portrait subjects. He lived and had his workshop in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, one of the municipalities In the Greater Brussels area, until the time of his death, In 1961. His travels in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

led him to develop a taste for the exotic, which came through in his many paintings of

gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

("bohemians") and even Africans in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

. Colin painted many portraits of his family members and was also commissioned to paint the portrait of His Majesty King

Albert I of Belgium Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. Born in Brussels as the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-S ...

. The children of the Bonnier family were often used as models In his works between the late 1920s and late 1930s. His painting 'Travesti' features Bertha and her older brother, Maurice, Bonnier, as well as the artist's wife.

Famous works

* ''Nativity'', for which he was awarded the

Grand Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

; * ''Travesti'' * ''Nu'', which was exhibited in 1912 at the Salon de Printemps,

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 ...

, Belgium; * ''La Dame en Noir'' * ''Melodie''

Sources

* Personal papers and oral history with Achiel Rawoens, nephew of Jean Colin, 2007 * Allegmeines Künstler-Lexicon: Die Bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten Und Völker (München-Leipzig 1998) * Oral history and original works passed on by Bertha Bonnier, mother of Eveline Schultz (née Cardoens) and one of the models used in some of his works. {{DEFAULTSORT:Colin, Jean Baptiste Leopold 1881 births 1961 deaths Prix de Rome (Belgium) winners 20th-century Belgian painters