Joseph Théodore Coosemans (19 March 1828,

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 ...

– 24 September 1904,

Schaerbeek (French and archaic Dutch, ) or (contemporary Dutch, ) 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 City of Brussels, Etterbeek, Evere and S ...

) was a Belgian landscape painter.

Life and work

His father, Adriaan, was a merchant, who died when Joseph was only a year old. His mother, Anna, died the following year and he was placed in the care of an aunt. After studies at a Jesuit college in Brussels, he took a job as a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

Tervuren Tervuren () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Duisburg, Tervuren, Vossem and Moorsel. On January 1, 2006, Tervuren had a total population of 20,636. The total a ...

. He later worked as a clerk for a horse farm, and held several clerical positions for the city governments in Tervuren and

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...

. These areas were favorite spots for artists, which led him to develop an interest in painting. Under the influence of

Théodore Fourmois Théodore Fourmois (14 October 1814 in Presles – October 1871 in Ixelles) was a Belgian landscape painter and printmaker. Théodore Fourmois learned drawing in the lithographic's workshop of Antoine Dewasme-Pletinckx in Brussels. He first ...

, he decided to specialize in landscapes. He held his first exhibition in 1863. He remained entirely self-taught. In 1868, he was one of the co-founders 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 ...

; originally a small workshop, later a sort of free academy. After 1872, he devoted himself exclusively to painting. During this time, he became one of the first members of an artists' group known as the . He made visits to

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

with Alfred Verwée and Louis Dubois, and spent a short time at

Barbizon Barbizon () is a commune (town) in the Seine-et-Marne department in north-central France. It is located near the Fontainebleau Forest. Demographics The inhabitants are called ''Barbizonais''. Art history The Barbizon school of painters is nam ...

. While there, he created some works in the style of the

Barbizon School The Barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement towards Realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870. It takes its name ...

. His own style gradually evolved from that of Fourmois to a simpler approach, reminiscent of

Hippolyte Boulenger Hippolyte Emmanuel Boulenger (3 December 1837 – 4 July 1874) was a Belgian landscape painter influenced by the French Barbizon school, considered to be "the Belgian Corot". Biography Hippolyte Boulenger was born to French parents in Tournai ...

, his patron at Tervuren. In 1887, he was named a Professor of landscape painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. In 1893, he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage, which paralyzed his right hand. Although he was able to learn how to paint with his left hand, his works took on a sketchy appearance. He retained his position at the Academy until his death in 1904, and was succeeded by Franz Courtens. Shortly after his death, a street in Schaerbeek was named after him. In 2004, on the centenary of his death, the municipality paid him a tribute. The exhibition included forty-nine of his works, plus two by his son, Frits, as well as a bust of him by Léon Mignon, and a portrait by .

Sources

* ''Joseph Coosemans (1825–1904). Schilder van de school van Tervuren'', by Herman De Vilder & Maurits Wynants, Vrienden van de School van Tervuren, 1993 * ''In het spoor van de meester. Joseph Coosemans en leerlingen in Genk'', by Kristof Reulens, Stad Genk: Emile Van Dorenmuseum, 2012

External links

More works by Coosemans
@ ArtNet
''Dictionnaire des peintres belges''
database BALaT @ the Institut royal du patrimoine artistique
A Bust of Coosemans by Mignon
@ Europeana {{DEFAULTSORT:Coosemans, Joseph 1828 births 1904 deaths Belgian painters Belgian landscape painters Academic staff of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) Artists from Brussels