Original works of art
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Charles Michel Maria Verlat |
(Belgian, 1824 -1890 ) |
Verlat was born in Antwerp on 24th November 1824 and spent most his life there until his death on 23rd October 1890. He received his initial artistic training from his mother, who was a sculptor of Dutch origin and then later as a pupil of de Whappers and the portraitist Nicaise de Keyser.
In 1849, he went to Paris where he lived and worked for the next eighteen years He worked at the studio of Ary Scheffer, worked with the major Belgian Impressionist painter Alfred Stevens and his brother Joseph who were also based there and also came to be influenced by Gustave Courbet.
His aspiration was to be a significant painter of wildlife and sporting scenes but due to financial constraints, he had initially to produce humorous works of actors to help pay his way. In 1866, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar appointed him as director of his Academy of Fine Arts and during his tenure there he painted several portraits and made a study of the German Primitives.
The next stage in his life saw him visit the Orient and Palestine where he remained for two years painting Biblical scenes before returning to Antwerp. Appointed Director of the Academy of Antwerp in 1885, he became renowned as a painter of animals, portraits and historical subjects as well as being an engraver. In many ways he is similar in style to his Belgian contemporaries but the influence of the French Realists is also apparent.
He exhibited two pictures at the Royal Academy in London: Not Invited in 1869 and Flowers and Fruit in 1886. He was made a member of the Legion of Honour in 1868 and received medals from Paris Salon in 1853, 1855 and 1878. Examples of his work can be seen in museums in Antwerp, Amsterdam, Brussels, Breme, Gratz, Le Havre and Liege. |