Léon-Henri-Marie Frédéric (26 August 1856 – 27 January 1940) was a Belgian

Symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

painter. His earliest paintings joined

Christian mysticism Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...

with

pantheistic Pantheism can refer to a number of Philosophy, philosophical and Religion, religious beliefs, such as the belief that the universe is God, or panentheism, the belief in a non-corporeal divine intelligence or God out of which the universe arise ...

themes, while his later works increasingly reflected social concerns. Much of his work also shows the influence of fifteenth and sixteenth century Flemish art and

Renaissance painting Renaissance art (1350 – 1620) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occurr ...

styles.

Biography

His father was a prosperous jeweler. In 1871, he was apprenticed to the architect and decorative painter, and began taking night courses at the

Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Brussels ( ''(ArBA-EsA)''; ) is an art school in Brussels, Belgium, founded in 1711. Starting from modest beginnings in a single room in Brussels Town Hall, Brussels' Town Hall, it has since 1876 been operat ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. In 1874, he found a position in the workshop of Jean-François Portaels. The following year, he and several other young art students engaged a private studio where they could paint from live, nude models. From 1876 to 1878, he entered the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

, but was not successful. Finally, his father financed a trip for studies in Italy from 1878 to 1879. There, he travelled to Naples, Rome, Florence and Venice. His favorite painters were

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

and

Domenico Ghirlandaio Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio (also spelt as Ghirlandajo), was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of the so-c ...

. On his return from Italy, he made his debut at the Brussels Salon, where he came under the influence of

Jules Bastien-Lepage Jules Bastien-Lepage (1 November 1848 – 10 December 1884) was a French painter closely associated with the beginning of naturalism, an artistic style that grew out of the Realist movement and paved the way for the development of impressioni ...

, and became a member of the artist group L'Essor. In 1883, he moved to

Vresse-sur-Semois Vresse-sur-Semois (, literally ''Vresse on Semois''; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Alle, Bagimont, Bohan, Chairière, Laforêt, Membre, Mo ...

, in the Belgian

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

, and traveled extensively to England, Germany and the Netherlands. He was awarded a gold medal at the

Exposition Universelle (1889) The of 1889 (), better known in English as the 1889 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 6 May to 31 October 1889. It was the fifth of ten major expositions held in the city between 1855 and 1937. It attracted more t ...

. The young Alexandre Benois was a great admirer of his works and, in 1898, arranged for several to be purchased by Princess Maria Tenisheva, for an exhibition in St. Petersburg. After his marriage, he moved to his final home in Schaerbeek in 1899, and continued to travel and exhibit his work in international fairs, winning awards in the United States and Germany and another gold medal at the

Exposition Universelle (1900) The Exposition Universelle of 1900 (), better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate develop ...

. In 1904, he was appointed a member of the Académie Royale and, in 1929, was created a Baron and a Knight of the Order of Leopold by King Albert I. His works may be seen at the Museum of Ixelles, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent and 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 ...

. ''The Four Seasons'' is currently on display at the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

. ''The Chalks Sellers'' and ''The Stream'' are currently displayed at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels. A street in Schaerbeek has been named after him.

Selected paintings

File:Léon Frédéric - The Morning.jpg, The Golden Age (Morning) File:Frederic leon 21.jpg, The Source of Life File:Leon Frederic, Le goûter du laboureur.jpg, The Plowman's Afternoon Tea File:Léon Frédéric - All Things Die, But All Will Be Resurrected through God's Love - Google Art Project (part 4).jpg, All Things Die, But All Will Be Resurrected through God's Love (center panel) File:Léon Frédéric (1856-1940) Begrafenis van een boer - La Boverie Luik 23-08-2018.jpg, Burial of a Farmer File:Les marchands de craie - Léon Frédéric - Musées Royaux des Beaux-arts - Bruxelles.jpg, The chalk sellers - Triptysh - 1882/1883 File:Le ruisseau - Léon Frédéric - 1890-1899 Musées royaux des beaux-arts - Bruxelles.jpg, The Stream (Le Ruisseau) - Triptysh - 1890-1899 File:Léon Frédéric - Le Triptyque de la légende de Saint François - 1882.jpg, The Triptych of The Legende Of Saint François - 1882 File:Les âges de l'ouvrier - Triptyque - Léon Frédéric - 1895-1897.jpg, The Ages Of Workers - Triptysh - 1895-1897

References

Frédérique Thomas-Maurin, Isolde De Buck, Benjamin Foudral (dir.), ''Léon Frederic (1856-1940), un autre réalisme xposition, Ornans, Musée Gustave Courbet, 6 juillet-15 octobre 2018', Besançon, Editions du Sekoya, 2018, 181 p. () Benjamin Foudral, ''Léon Frederic (1856-1940), « gothique moderne ». Carrière d’un artiste belge dans l’Europe de la fin du XIXe siècle. Essai et Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre'' hèse en Histoire de l'art, Sorbonne Université, soutenue le 3 juillet 2019 Paris, 2019.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frederic, Leon 1856 births 1940 deaths Belgian Symbolist painters 19th-century Belgian painters Belgian male painters 19th-century Belgian male artists 20th-century Belgian painters Pantheists