Louis, Charles Verwée
An intimate genre scene, painted in 1875 by the renowned painter Louis Charles Verwée. An elegant woman in her home, captured in her everyday life. A recurring theme in the Belgian artist’s work.
Oil on canvas
Signed and dated 1875 lower right
Dimensions: 47 x 33 cm
With frame: 70 x 56 cm
Price: 7500 euros
Louis, Charles Verwée, talented portraitist and painter of genre scenes.
Louis-Charles Verwée’s works, mainly meticulously detailed portraits and genre scenes, are characterized by anecdote and attention to detail. His paintings were very popular during his lifetime, attracting the attention of major collectors, including King Leopold II of Belgium.
Here, an elegantly dressed young woman, wearing a dress with fine pink and white stripes and a matching hat, opens a dresser drawer in search of the missing accessory, a piece of jewelry. She seems to have found the object of her desire; a slight smile appears on her face.
The scene is dominated by warm tones. The garnet-red ribbon embellishing her outfit echoes the carpet, while the mahogany chest of drawers brings warmth and contrast to the canvas.
The painter depicts his character with meticulous sensitivity.
The smallest details of his bourgeois interior are reproduced with a meticulous skill worthy of the old Flemish masters.
It envelops the stage in a soft light.
The works of Louis, Charles, Verwée often depict scenes of daily life and intimate moments captured on the spot.
Louis-Charles Verwée liked to capture his figures, mainly young women, in the midst of their daily activities. A theme that recurs repeatedly in the artist’s work.
He was particularly adept at capturing the spontaneity of his characters’ intimate moments.
Here, the elegant woman, presumably ready to go out, searches her dresser for the jewelry that will complete her outfit before departure.
Biography
Louis-Charles Verwée was a Belgian painter famous for his interior scenes, genre scenes and elegant portraits of society.
Born into a family of artists, Louis-Charles Verwée is the son of painter Louis-Pierre Verwée, a celebrated landscape and animal painter of the Romantic school, and the elder brother of painter Alfred Verwée.
The young man was naturally introduced to painting by his father, who remained his apprentice for several years.
Louis-Charles Verwée showed an inclination and talent for portraits and genre scenes. He particularly appreciated the style of Belgian painters Alfred Stevens and Gustave Léonard de Jonghe, and subsequently frequented the studios of both artists.
He took part in numerous salons, notably in Brussels in 1854, Antwerp in 1861, Ghent in 1871 and Amsterdam in 1877.
He died in 1882 in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode.
Museums
– Paris, Musée d’Orsay
– Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
