Cornelis van der Schaft

Romantic forest view with shepherd and flock

Verwée Louis-Pierre Courtrai 1807 – 1877 Brussels Belgian Painter 'Landscape with Shepherds and Animals by the Water' Signature: signed lower right and dated 'L. P. Verwee 1851' Medium: oil on panel Dimensions: image size 43 x 52 cm, frame size 58 x 66 cm Biography: Louis-Pierre Verwee (also spelled Verwée) was born on March 19, 1807, in Kortrijk, Belgium, and died in Brussels in November 1877. He is widely regarded as the leading representative of the Romantic school in Belgian landscape painting, particularly known for his evocative winter scenes and rural landscapes with cattle. Verwee left school at an early age to pursue his passion for art. He enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kortrijk, where he studied under Jan Baptiste de Jonghe, a prominent landscape and animal painter. He later continued his artistic training with Eugène Verboeckhoven in Ghent, who would not only become his mentor but also a lifelong friend and collaborator. The two artists often worked side by side, and Verboeckhoven occasionally painted the figures and animals in Verwee’s landscapes, to such a degree that their early works are sometimes difficult to distinguish. Verwee followed Verboeckhoven to Brussels and established himself as a successful landscape and animal painter. His preferred subjects were winter and summer scenes, typically populated with figures and animals. His style, particularly in his early work, was closely aligned with that of Verboeckhoven. Over time, he became known for landscapes that reflected the romantic tradition, with compositions echoing the work of Andreas Schelfhout, Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, Frans Keelhoff, and Johann Bernard Klombeck. His depictions of forests and rivers often employed a dreamy, atmospheric quality that captured the mood and light of nature. In his later career, Verwee sought artistic innovation but found himself increasingly focused on variations of winter landscapes after 1837. These scenes, popularized by Koekkoek and Schelfhout, were characterized by low-hanging snow clouds, icy waterways, and a cool palette of light blue and metallic grey, creating a moody and intimate ambiance. Occasionally, other artists such as Florent Willems...

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