Jean Baptiste Discart (5 October 1855,

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

– 1 January 1940, Paris) was an Italian-born painter; known primarily for his portraits and Orientalist scenes. He worked mainly in France and the Netherlands, and came to be identified as French.

Biography

His father, Francesco Ferdinando Discart (1819–1893), worked at the court of

Francis V, Duke of Modena Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

. After graduating from the gymnasium, in 1869, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, aged only fourteen. He would study there almost continuously until 1880. His primary professors were Leopold Karl Müller and Anselm Feuerbach, who had the most influence on his style. He refused to continue his studies after Feuerbach's death. Around 1880/81, he settled in Paris, joining some of his fellow students from the Vienna Academy. It was there that he first developed an interest in Orientalism, and most likely created his first works in that genre in Tangiers. He later visited Morocco, and may have been to other parts of North Africa, although this is not well-documented. His visits there continued through 1920. Unlike many other Orientalists, his works were focused on daily life and its minutiae, rather than cityscapes, landscapes and harems. Most are very detailed. He probably created some paintings from photographs. From around 1895, he painted portraits in the Netherlands. His subjects mostly came from noble families, such as the Van Lyndens, the Van Limburg-Stirums, the Van Tuylls, the

Van Heemstra Van Heemstra is a family that belongs to the Dutch nobility. History The family is of Frisians, Frisian origin. The genealogy of the family begins with ''Taecke Obbema Heemstra'', mentioned as a voting representative (nobleman) in Oostergo in 1 ...

s and the

Van Heeckeren Van Heeckeren is an old Dutch noble family from the Dutch provinces Overijssel and Gelderland. History The earliest bearer of the name may have taken it from the town of Ekeren, which was also referred to in 1167 as ''Hecerna''. The oldest kn ...

s. In 1909, he created a large portrait of 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 ...

, on the occasion of his ascension to the throne. His last known portraits, pastels of the Van Lyndens, were made in 1929. Most of them are in private collections.Frick Library, Jean Baptiste Discart
He died at his home in Paris in 1940.

Selected paintings

File:Jean Discart - The Connoisseurs.jpg, The Connoisseurs File:Jean Discart Alfarero de Tánger.jpg, The Pottery Workshop File:The cobbler, Tangiers, by Jean Discart.jpg, The Cobbler File:Jean Discart - The barber shop.jpg, The Barber Shop

References

Bibliography

* * * ''Kralt, Theo P.G. (2020). Jean Baptiste Discart Orientalist paintings and Dutch portraits, Van Gruting Publishers, Utrecht, The Netherlands,'' .

External links

*
"Theo Kralt over de bijzondere schilder Jean Baptiste Discart"
@ YouTube
More works by Discart
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Discart, Jean 1855 births 1940 deaths French orientalists French portrait painters Painters from Paris Italian emigrants to France