J. Van Biesbroek - Orientalist Portrait

Jules Van Biesbroek (1873-1965) - Orientalist portrait
Oil on panel - Circa 1935

Portrait of a young Berber
Signed lower left

Panel: 38 X 46 cm
Frame: 48 X 57 cm

Perfect original condition (neither repainted nor restoration)
Old gilded wood frame


Jules Pierre Van BIESBROECK (1873-1965)
Belgian painter and sculptor

He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent.
Annoyed at having only received second place in the Prix de Rome competition, he took revenge on the jury by painting a vast composition, « The Launch of Argos ». As he was only 15 years old, this work was accepted at the Paris Salon, but the nudity of the giants caused a scandal.
A sculptor as well as a painter, he exhibited in Germany, Italy, France, Belgium and participated in the universal exhibitions in Paris in 1889 and 1900.

Attracted by new horizons, he began traveling to North Africa in 1926. Then in 1927, the discovery of Algeria was a real revelation for the painter. His palette will lighten and he will represent orientalist subjects, more particularly the inhabitants of Bou-Saada. He remained in Algeria until 1938.
Van BIESBROECK sent orientalist works to the exhibitions of the Company of Algerian and Orientalist Artists, the Artistic Union of North Africa, the Salon Artistique de l'Afrique Française and the Colonial Exhibition in Paris in 1931.

Bibliography:
F. Arnaudies, J. Van Biesbroeck, peintre et sculpteur, 1931.