Omer Coppens (1864–1926) was a Belgian

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 passage ...

and orientalist painter, ceramic artist, and bookbinder. Born in

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France. Royal Academy of Fine Arts at Ghent and worked in the south of France, Italy, and Morocco, painting genre scenes, seascapes, and landscapes. Taking an interest in ceramic art, in about 1894 and 1895 Coppens is believed to have spent time in workshops at

Torhout Torhout (; french: Thourout; vls, Toeroet) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Torhout proper, the villages of Wijnendale and Sint-Henricus, and the hamlet of De Dri ...

and Bredene. He taught Arthur Craco, who produced his first ceramics in the workshop of Coppens.Clerbois Sébastien, "Omer Coppens ou le Rêve de l’Art nouveau" (Brussels: Exhibitions Internationales, June 2001) Seeking the true use of light, the realist brushstrokes of Coppens's early work developed into a more

autochthonous Autochthon, autochthons or autochthonous may refer to: Fiction * Autochthon (Atlantis), a character in Plato's myth of Atlantis * Autochthons, characters in the novel ''The Divine Invasion'' by Philip K. Dick * Autochthon, a Primordial in the ' ...

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

, under the influence of the work of his friend

Théo van Rysselberghe Théophile "Théo" van Rysselberghe (23 November 1862 – 13 December 1926) was a Belgian neo-impressionist painter, who played a pivotal role in the European art scene at the turn of the twentieth century. Biography Early years Born i ...

, who painted at least one portrait of Coppens in oils. Coppens became the secretary of a group called ''Pour l'Art'' and was also a member of ''l'Essor'' and the ''Cercle artistique et littéraire de Bruxelles''. In 1898, ''

The Magazine of Art ''The Magazine of Art'' was an illustrated monthly British journal devoted to the visual arts, published from May 1878 to July 1904 in London and New York City by Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. It included reviews of exhibitions, articles about art ...

'' noted that "Coppens loves and depicts moonlit scenes, where the whiteness of the houses is tempered with a greenish blue." Influenced by

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

, Coppens is best known as a painter, engraver, and ceramic artist, but he also worked in pewter and was a bookbinder. Coppens took part in the Brussels Universal Exhibition of 1910. His son, Willy Coppens (1892–1986), became a famous aviator in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Coppens died in 1926 in Ixelles. In an obituary, '' The Connoisseur'' called him "the earnest interpreter of the urban scene" and reported that he had been one of the best-known members of ''Pour l’Art''.'' The Connoisseur'', Vol. 75 (1926), p. 190 In 2001, the Rouge-Cloître Art Centre in Brussels mounted an exhibition entitled "Omer Coppens or the Dream of Art Nouveau", in collaboration with the

Free University of Brussels University of Brussels may refer to several institutions in Brussels, Belgium: Current institutions * Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), a French-speaking university established as a separate entity in 1970 *Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), a D ...

, the

Royal Museums of Art and History The Royal Museums of Art and History (french: Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, nl, Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis) or RMAH is a group of museums in Brussels, Belgium. It is part of the Belgian Federal government, federal insti ...

, the Horta Museum, and the International Centre for the Study of the 19th century.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coppens, Omer 1864 births 1926 deaths Belgian painters