Eugène Boch (1 September 1855 – 3 January 1941) was a Belgian painter, born in Saint-Vaast,

La Louvière La Louvière (; ) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pie ...

, Hainaut. He was the younger brother of

Anna Boch Anna-Rosalie Boch (10 February 1848 – 25 February 1936), known as Anna, was a Belgium, Belgian Painting, painter, art collector, and the only female member of the artistic group, Les XX. Born in La Louvière, Saint-Vaast, Hainaut Province, Hai ...

, the only female member of Les XX.

Life

Eugène Boch was born into the fifth generation of the Boch family, a wealthy dynasty of manufacturers of fine china and ceramics, still active today under the firm of

Villeroy & Boch Villeroy & Boch (, ) is a French-German manufacturer of ceramics, with the company headquarters located in Mettlach, Saarland. History The company began in the tiny Lorraine village of Audun le Tiche, where the iron master François Boch set ...

. In 1879 he enrolled in the private

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or vi ...

Léon Bonnat Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (; 20 June 1833 – 8 September 1922) was a French painter, Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur, art collector and professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Early life Bonnat was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 1882, when Bonnat closed his atelier, Boch continued his studies at the atelier of

Fernand Cormon Fernand Cormon (; 24 December 1845 – 20 March 1924) was a French painter born in Paris. He became a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel, Eugène Fromentin, and Jean-François Portaels, and one of the leading historical painters of modern France. Biog ...

. The Salon admitted some of his work in 1882, 1883 and 1885. In 1888, Boch was introduced by Dodge MacKnight to

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

. In 1892 he settled in Monthyon (Seine-and-Marne), not far from Paris. In 1909, he married Anne-Marie Léonie Crusfond (?–1933), and in 1910 they moved to their recently built chalet "La Grimpette", where both lived out their lives. Boch supported poor artists of talent, including Émile Bernard, whom he met at the Atelier Cormon, and

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

. He also exchanged works with many artists, including by Van Gogh, and little by little, grew an important collection of contemporary art. Boch and his sister Anna spent a large part of the family fortune promoting other artists. They bought pictures from many leading contemporaries of their time, the majority of whom were also their friends. In 1888, Van Gogh painted Boch's portrait, ''The Poet'', which is now in the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

. In a letter to his brother Theo about the painting, Van Gogh described his artistic approach and vision for the portrait.

Because instead of trying to render exactly what I have before my eyes, I use colour more arbitrarily in order to express myself forcefully. Well, let’s let that lie as far as theory goes, but I’m going to give you an example of what I mean. I’d like to do the portrait of an artist friend who dreams great dreams, who works as the nightingale sings, because that’s his nature. This man will be blond. I’d like to put in the painting my appreciation, my love that I have for him. I’ll paint him, then, just as he is, as faithfully as I can — to begin with. But the painting isn’t finished like that. To finish it, I’m now going to be an arbitrary colourist. I exaggerate the blond of the hair, I come to orange tones, chromes, pale lemon. Behind the head — instead of painting the dull wall of the mean room, I paint the infinite.

Boch received Van Gogh's portrait of him, ''The Poet'', from

Johanna van Gogh-Bonger Johanna Gezina van Gogh-Bonger (4 October 1862 – 2 September 1925) was a Dutch editor who translated the hundreds of letters of her first husband, art dealer Theo van Gogh (art dealer), Theo van Gogh, and his brother, Vincent van Gogh. Van ...

, Van Gogh's sister in law. After his death, Boch's great-nephew Luitwin von Boch purchased part of Boch's collection with the intention of creating a museum for the work of Boch and his sister Anna.

References

* Berko, Patrick & Viviane (1981), ''Dictionary of Belgian painters born between 1750 & 1875'', Knokke 1981, p. 51. * * (Catalog of an exhibition held at the Moderne Galerie, Saarland Museum, Saarbrücken, 6 May – June 6, 1971)

External links

Eugene Boch.com
nbsp;– includes painting reproductions {{DEFAULTSORT:Boch, Eugene 1855 births 1941 deaths People from La Louvière Belgian art collectors 19th-century Belgian painters Belgian male painters 19th-century Belgian male artists 20th-century Belgian painters 20th-century Belgian male artists