Jules Lismonde (known professional as simply Lismonde; 14 May 1908 – 12 March 2001) was a Belgian painter and drawer. He was a member of the

Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, sometimes referred to as ') is the independent learned society of science and arts of the French Comm ...

Biography

Lismonde lived in the villa called « Les Roches » where he spent 50 years of his life with his wife Albertine De Wispelaere (6 August 190823 October 1997).

Beginnings

Lismonde started drawing as a child, and was brought up in an artistic family that admired the work of Steinlen,

Forain Jean-Louis Forain (23 October 1852 – 11 July 1931) was a French Impressionist painter and printmaker, working in media including oils, watercolour, pastel, etching and lithograph. Compared to many of his Impressionist colleagues, he was mor ...

and fashionable English drawers. While a student at the Royal Athenaeum of Brussels, he collaborated to the ''Pallas'' review by publishing his drawings and caricatures there. Since he played the flute, he hesitated between a musical and artistic career, but he settled on the visual arts. As a young man, as early as 1925, he started painting the

Brabantian Brabantian or Brabantish, also Brabantic or Brabantine ( nl, Brabants, Standard Dutch pronunciation: , ), is a dialect group of the Dutch language. It is named after the historical Duchy of Brabant, which corresponded mainly to the Dutch provi ...

countryside with painter Edgar Bytebier fr">:fr:Edgar_Bytebier.html" ;"title="nowiki/>:fr:Edgar Bytebier">fr(1875-1940).

Career

After practicing oil painting, of which there remain a few examples (portraits, landscapes), he became passionate about drawing in a refined expression in black and white. It was also then that he discovered etching. In 1934, Jean Groffier [:fr:Jean Groffier, fr] wrote : « As a painter, let it be said, Lismonde was not a colorist. Under the painter's brush, a drawer was hiding. His colour is sad, wary, his effects are gray; but of a delicious melancholy. Actually, the "landscaper" that is Lismonde is one of the most interesting characters of the Belgian visual arts world and whose name will soon cross our borders. ». Though he did not exactly fit into any artistic "school", he participated in 1945 in the creation of the movement « Jeune Peinture belge fr">:fr:Jeune_Peinture_belge.html" ;"title="nowiki/>:fr:Jeune Peinture belge">fr» () and to the group called « Cap d'Encre ». Lismonde was also a portrait painter and he completed in the 1930s and 40s a series of portraits, especially in charcoal, of personalities from the intellectual and literary world of his time like the poets Luc Indestege, Maurice Carême, Gaston Heux [:fr:Gaston Heux, fr], the writers Constant Burniaux [:fr:Constant Burniaux, fr], Louis Lebeer, the philosopher Marcel De Corte (philosopher), Marcel De Corte fr.html" ;"title="nowiki/> fr">nowiki/> fr the architect fr">lt;nowiki_>:fr:Charles_.html" ;"title="Léon Van Dievoet or the painters Charles Dehoy [:fr:Charles Dehoy">fror Jacques Veraart [:fr:Jacques Veraart, fr].Serge Goyens de Heusch, ''Lismonde portraitiste'', 2016.

Exhibitions

His first personal exhibition took place in 1930 where his paintings were particularly popular. An exhibition of his works at the ''Palais des Beaux-Arts'' in Brussels in 1953 officially consecrated his art. Then he had personal exhibitions in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

Sao Paulo SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, and the

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

in Amsterdam in 1950. The 9th biennale of Black&White of Lugano dedicated him a room. In 1958, he represented Belgium at the 1958

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

where he won the Renato Carrain Prize. There are

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

and a sculpture by him in the Pétillon metro station in Brussels.

Documentary

In 1978,

Patrick Van Antwerpen Patrick Van Antwerpen was a Belgian author-filmmaker born on 17 May 1944 in Ixelles (Brussels) and died in this commune on 3 December 1990. Filmographie * ''Jules, Julien, Julienne'' (1968) * ''La baraque'' (1970) * ''Le banc'' (1973) * ''L'a ...

produced a documentary on Lismonde.

The Lismonde Foundation

Lismonde donated his house to the municipality of

Linkebeek Linkebeek (; ) is a Belgian municipality in Flanders, part of the province of Flemish Brabant, and in the administrative district of Halle-Vilvoorde. The municipality only comprises the town of Linkebeek proper. As of 1 January 2006, Linkebeek ha ...

, it now serves as a place for music, meetings and exhibitions.

Gallery

File:Linkebeek, Les Roches villa Lismonde huile par LEON VAN DIEVOET (1959).jpg, Lismonde's villa in

"Les Roches", oil by

Léon van Dievoet Léon Van Dievoet (; 5 July 1907 – 6 December 1993) was a Belgian architect, painter, engraver, and draughtsman. He is the author of numerous drawings of places in Brussels that have since been demolished which have been described as a "mine o ...

, 1959. File:LISMONDE, dessin par Léon van Dievoet, 1944.jpg, Lismonde, portrait by Léon van Dievoet, 4 April 1944. File:Lismonde chez lui, 29 décembre 1934..jpg, Lismonde at his home, drawing by Léon van Dievoet, 29 December 1934. File:Lismonde dans son atelier, dessin par Léon van Dievoet, 4 avril 1944.jpg, Lismonde in his workshop, drawing by Léon van Dievoet, 4 April 1944. File:1932 aout 20 Dilbeek Rachel De Bievre Lismonde Goda Isgour photo Léon van Dievoet.jpg, Lismonde painting with the painters Rachel De Bièvre and, in the foreground, Goda Isgour, sister of the architect Isia Isgour, in Dilbeek, August 20, 1932 (photo by Léon van Dievoet) File:1933 septembre 3 Lac d'Overmeire Jean Callebaut Léon van Dievoet Lismonde en canot.jpg, From left to right: Jean Callebaut, the architect Léon van Dievoet and Lismonde, in a canoe on Lake Overmeire on September 3, 1933. File:1933 NOV 27 Lismonde dans son atelier devant fenetre photo Leon van Dievoet.jpg, Lismonde in his workshop in Moortebeek, November 27, 1933 (photo by Léon van Dievoet). File:1936 avril 6 Lismonde peignant à Neylen (photo Léon van Dievoet).jpg, Lismonde painting in the village of Neylen, April 6, 1936 (photo by Léon van Dievoet). File:1936 avril 7 Lismonde dessinant église de Diest (photo Léon van Dievoet).jpg, Lismonde drawing the church of

Diest Diest () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Situated in the northeast of the Hageland region, Diest neighbours the provinces of Antwerp to its North, and Limburg to the East and is situated around 60 ...

on April 7, 1936 (photo by Léon van Dievoet). File:1936 avril 7 Lismonde peignant à Kermpt (photo Léon van Dievoet).jpg, Lismonde painting in the village of

Kermt Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as its ...

, April 7, 1936 (photo by Léon van Dievoet). File:Marguerite ANTOINE et LISMONDE, Nieuport, plage, août 1936.jpg, Lismonde painting with the painter Marguerite Antoine on the beach at

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

in August 1936 (photo by Léon van Dievoet). File:1936 août Nieuport de g. à dr. Lismonde, Marguerite Antoine, Fernand Cannoot.jpg, From left to right, Lismonde, the painter Marguerite Antoine and Fernand Cannoot, in Nieuport in August 1936 (photo by Léon van Dievoet). File:Anvers 17 déc. 1937 Lismonde et Jacques de Wouters d'Oplinter sur l'Albertville (photo Léon van Dievoet).jpg, Lismonde with his friend Jacques de Wouters d'Oplinter (1909-1972) on the Alberville before the latter's departure for 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 ...

. Antwerp, December 17, 1937 (photo by Léon van Dievoet). File:Maison Lismonde à Linkebeek, gravé par Léon van Dievoet ,1964.JPG, "Les Roches" in Linkebeek, home of Lismonde and current headquarters of the Lismonde Foundation, drypoint by Léon van Dievoet, 1964.