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Leon Herbo
Portrait of a Girl Oil on Canvas Signed in Frame 19th century Belgian School

1884

About the Item

Léon Herbo (1850-1907), "Portrait of a Girl," oil painting on canvas signed and dated 1884 lower left. In its original gilt frame. With extreme elegance and refinement, Léon Herbo portrays this young, black-eyed girl: in a tight bordeaux-colored dress buttoned down to her throat, with her hair pulled back, she gazes at us with her bright, vivid eyes, in stark contrast to Hérbo's gaudy, laughing women. Here the painter arms himself with psychological introspection and portrays the purity and demureness of the young woman but also the curious light shining in her eyes. The portrait is magnificent and intense, illuminated by its beautiful original frame. Léon Herbo (October 8, 1850, Templeuve - June 19, 1907, Ixelles ) was a Belgian painter, best known for his portraits of women in casual poses and his portraits of actors and actresses. He also painted genre scenes , many with Orientalist themes . His wife often served as his model. He studied at the Académie des beaux-arts de Tournai with Léonce Legendre , director of the Académie, and completed his studies at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels from 1869 to 1874. He took first place in the preparatory competition for the Prix de Rome . He traveled to Germany, Italy and France before settling in Brussels. His first official exhibition was in 1875, at the Salon van Brussel, and he would continue to hold exhibitions there until the end of the century. In 1876 Herbo, Julien Dillens and Emile Namur founded L'Essor, the Belgian realist school. Essor seeks to rebel against the conservative bourgeois ideology of the Belgian academic establishment. The group’s motto was 'Eigen Kunst, Eigen Leven' (‘unique art, unique life’), and they combined art exhibitions with lectures and music performances. The Brussels-based group organized annual exhibitions from 1876 to 1881, as well as subsequent exhibitions for its members in Ostend, Antwerp and London. In 1889 Herbo received an honorable mention at the Paris World's Fair and was made a knight of the Order of Leopold. He continued to work in Brussels and began teaching at the Academy, which he would soon take over as director. A highly regarded artist in late 19th-century Brussels, he loved to portray the female figure with a refined style adept at revealing the beauty of the women of his time and depicting them in their sensual and seductive nature. Some of his paintings can be seen in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, the Museum of Painting and Sculpture in Courtrai, and the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tournai. On Oct. 15, 2021 in New York, Christie's auction house broke one of the artist's records, "Portrait of an Art Connoisseur," which sold for $137,500.
  • Creator:
    Leon Herbo (1850 - 1907, Belgian)
  • Creation Year:
    1884
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 41.34 in (105 cm)Width: 35.44 in (90 cm)
  • More Editions & Sizes:
    tela cm 75 x 60Price: $11,016
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    The painting is in excellent condition. Minimal signs of time compatible with the era. In its canvas of origin.
  • Gallery Location:
    Pistoia, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2746215308402

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