Charles Kvapil

Charles Kvapil, Antwerp 1884 – 1957 Paris, Interieur au Bord de la Mer

1884 – 1957

Jean François Portaels 1818 - Brussels - 1895 Belgian Painter ‘Oriental Girls - Mediants à Tanger, Maroc’ Signature: signed lower right ‘J. Portaels’ Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: image size 40,5 x 28,5 cm, frame size 67,5 x 56 cm Biography: Jean François Portaels, also known as Jan Portaels, was a versatile Belgian painter born on April 3, 1818, in Vilvoorde and passed away on February 8, 1895, in Schaerbeek. He was celebrated for his genre scenes, biblical stories, landscapes, portraits, and Orientalist subjects. As a teacher and director of the Academy of Fine Arts of Ghent and the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Portaels significantly impacted Belgian art, becoming a pivotal figure in the Belgian Orientalist school. His works were known for their 'everyday elegance and feminine grace,' and he played a crucial role in influencing the next generation of Belgian artists, including notable figures like Théo van Rysselberghe. Portaels was the son of a wealthy brewer who also served as Vilvoorde's mayor. Showing an early passion for drawing, he was sent to the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels in 1836, where he studied under François-Joseph Navez, a former student of Jacques-Louis David. Navez invited him to his studio, which was renowned at the time, allowing Portaels to refine his skills alongside other talented students like Charles de Groux and Joseph Stallaert. In 1841, Portaels moved to Paris, enrolling at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and studying under Paul Delaroche. He became influenced by the emerging Orientalist movement, which was gaining traction in Paris. In 1842, he won the Grand Prix de Rome, which funded his travels across Italy and other regions, including Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Judea, Spain, Hungary, and Norway. These journeys profoundly influenced his artistic vision, particularly his Orientalist works. Upon his return to Belgium in 1847, Portaels was appointed Director of the academy in Ghent. In 1849, he married Marie Hélène Navez, the daughter of his first teacher. Despite being offered the directorship of the Brussels Academy, he initially declined, opting to preserve his independence. He later accepted a teaching position at the Academy and eventually became its director in 1878, succeeding Eugène Simonis. Portaels was known for his broad range of artistic talents, including history painting, portraiture, and genre art. He was particularly recognised for his Orientalist depictions, often portraying the 'Oriental woman' with distinctive features like arched eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes. His style, marked by charm and elegance, distinguished him from the dominant artistic movements of Classicism and Romanticism. He was a pioneer in monumental art in Belgium, working with Jean Baptiste van Eycken to introduce fresco techniques like water glass painting...

A Royal Greenhouse Interior, Brussels Marcotte Marie-Antoinette Troyes 1869 – 1929 Paris French School Signature: Signed bottom left Dimensions: Image size 101 x 80,50 cm, frame size 103,50 x 93,50 cm Medium: Oil on canvas Biography: Marcotte Marie-Antoinette was a French luminist and impressionist painter and a watercolourist of genre scenes, landscapes, still-life, gardens and flowers. Born in Troyes, France on May 31 in 1869. Settled in a very young age with her family and raised in Antwerp. Follows in the age of nineteen several months lessons in the studio of the famed Jules Joseph Lefèbvre in Paris. Further education at the Academy Royale des Beaux-Art of Brussels (1889 -1891) pupil of Jean François Portaels and Emile Claus...

Charles Léon Cardon 1850 – Brussels – 1921 Belgian Painter 'A Gentleman and a Maid' Signature: signed top right and dated ‘Ch. Léon Cardon - 1880’ Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions...

Victor Abeloos 1881 – Brussels – 1965 Belgian Painter 'Girl at the Mirror' Signature: signed lower left and dated 1920 'V. Abeloos. 1920' Medium: oil on panel Dimensions: ima...