Léon Herbo (8 October 1850, Templeuve - 19 June 1907,

Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...

) was a Belgian painter, best known for his portraits of women in casual poses and for his portraits of actors and actresses. He also painted

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

scenes, many with Orientalist themes. His wife often served as his model.

Biography

He studied at the with , the Académie's Director, and completed his studies 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 ...

in Brussels from 1869 to 1874. He was ranked first in the preparatory competition for 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 ...

. He travelled throughout Germany, Italy and France before settling in Brussels. His first formal exhibit came in 1875, at the , and he would continue to hold showings there until the end of the century. The following year, he was one of the co-founders of "

L'Essor (fr. ''Progress'') is the state-owned national daily newspaper published in Bamako, Mali. Its motto is "''La Voix du Peuple''" ("The Voice of the People"). History was first published in 1949, and from 1953 was the official publication of the ...

", a progressive group that rebelled against the conservative teachings of the Academies. As well as exhibiting in Belgium, he participated in showings in Paris, at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

, in Munich and Berlin. He obtained honorable mention 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 ...

. That same year, he and the animal painter, , collaborated on creating a monumental canvas depicting the meeting of Queen Marie Henriette with the military squadron named after her. He was very prolific and created numerous works for commercial use. Many were designed for reproduction by

chromolithography Chromolithography is a method for making multi-colour printmaking, prints in lithography, and in theory includes all types of lithography that are printed in colour. However, in modern usage it is normally restricted to 19th-century works, and ...

, or the decoration of porcelain. Above all, he became the portrait painter at a fixed price and guaranteed likeness. "His reputation was such that he was often approached for portraits after death" (in Biographie Nationale publiée par l'Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique (Tome 37 - pp. 432 & 433). A good example is the portrait of the Crown Prince of Belgium, Léopold Ferdinand, Count of Hainaut, who died in 1869, aged ten, a portrait he painted for Queen Marie-Henriette. Herbo had an important production as a portrait painter. We owe him more than a thousand portraits. Most of his paintings are in private collections. Some may be seen at the

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (, ; , ) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They are part of the institutions of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) and consist of six museums: the Oldmasters Museum, the ...

, the Museum of Painting and Sculpture in

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

, and the Musée des Beaux-Arts Tournai.

Selected paintings

File:Herbo-Carmen.jpg,

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

File:Salome-leon-herbo.jpg,

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

File:The wedding feast, by Léon Herbo.jpg, The Wedding Feast File:Herbo-Springtime.jpg, Springtime File:Léon Herbo (1850-1907), Portrait of an Art Connoisseur, possibly Ira Aldridge.png, Portrait of

Ira Aldridge Ira Frederick Aldridge (July 24, 1807 – August 7, 1867) was an American-born British actor, playwright, and theatre manager, known for his portrayal of William Shakespeare, Shakespearean characters. James Hewlett (actor), James Hewlett and Ald ...

File:Ira Adridge Othello Leon Herbo.jpg, Portrait of

as Othello (auction at Artcurial Paris March 23, 2022)

Sources

Biography
@ the ''Dictionnaire des peintres belges'' * ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' (; ) is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ''Nouvelle Biographie Nationale'' (, ...

'', Vol.37, pg.432-43
Online

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbo, Leon 1850 births 1907 deaths Belgian painters Belgian portrait painters Belgian orientalists Artists from Nord (French department) Painters from Hauts-de-France