Albert de Belleroche Portrait Prints

Mademoiselle Sablon Lithograph, 1907 Unsigned Provenance: estate of the artist Reference: Belleroche No. 383 Edition: c. 15 Condition: excellent Image size: 18 1/2 x 19 inches Sheet size: 24 1/4 x 18 1/2 inches Albert Gustavus de Belleroche, also known as Albert Belleroche, (22 October 1864 – 14 July 1944) was a Welsh-born painter and lithographer, who lived most of his childhood and his adulthood in Paris and England. He began as a painter, but at the turn of the century focused on lithography, for which he is most well-known. He was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre de Leopold by King Albert I of Belgium in 1933. Early life Albert de Belleroche, Lithograph of the artist's mother, Mrs. Harry Vane Milbank, circa 1900 Albert Gustavus De Belleroche was born on 22 October 1864 in Swansea. His parents were Brusseler Alice and Edward Charles, the Marquis de Belleroche, who died when he was three years old. His mother was the daughter of Desire Baruch. In March 1871, she married Harry Vane Millbank, the son of MP Frederick Milbank. He grew up in Paris and London and he used the surname Milbank until he was 30 years of age. He attained the title of count from his father's family of French Huguenot ancestry. Career and personal life La Danseuse (model Lili Grenier), circa 1890 In 1882, Belleroche studied briefly at Carolus-Duran's art school in Paris, preferring to study the masters like Johannes Vermeer and Sandro Botticelli at museums. He was a friend and studio-mate of John Singer Sargent in Paris and London, with the men making many sketches and paintings of each other. Some of the works that Sargent made of Belleroche are suggestive of an emotional relationship between the men and Belleroche may have been the love of Sargent's life. Dorothy Moss, an art historian, states "Sargent's portraits of Belleroche, in their sensuality and intensity of emotion, push the boundaries of what was considered appropriate interaction between men at this period." Belleroche was financially independent and did not need or desire to obtain work through commissions. Instead, he chose who he would paint, which included Japanese wrestler...