André Edmond Alfred Cluysenaar (31 May 1872, Saint-Gilles - 17 April 1939,

Uccle Uccle (French language, French, ) or Ukkel (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it ...

) was a Belgian painter. He was especially known for portraits and female figures.

Life and work

He was member of the Cluysenaar family, descendant from a long line of architects who originated in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

, where the family name was spelled "Klausener". Perhaps the best-known among these was his grandfather

Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar (1811–1880) was a Dutch-born architect and the founder of the Belgian Cluysenaar family of artists and architects. Family Cluysenaar was born in Kampen in the Netherlands as a son of Joannes Kluysenaar and Garideni ...

. His wife, Alice Gordon, was related to

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

. He received his first art lessons from his father, then studied with

François-Joseph Navez François-Joseph Navez (16 November 1787 in Charleroi – 12 October 1869 in Brussels) was a Belgian Neoclassicism, Neoclassical painter; known for his portraits and Genre art, genre scenes. Biography As the son of an alderman, in a privileged f ...

. Initially, he worked as a sculptor, but devoted himself entirely to painting after 1902. He was firmly grounded in the romantic style at first; producing still lifes and

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

scenes, but later turned to

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and painted mostly female figures, often semi-nude. He also executed monumental ceiling paintings for the City Hall in Saint-Gilles. During World War I, he lived in London where he established a reputation painting portraits of notable people, including the Royal Family, which were done in a more commercial style using Alfred Stevens as a model. Most of these portraits may be seen in the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

Honours

* 1919 : Knight of the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

. * 1934 : Officer in the Order of the Crown.Royal order of 7.4.1934

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cluysenaar, Andre 1872 births 1939 deaths Cluysenaar family People from Saint-Gilles, Belgium Belgian portrait painters 20th-century Belgian painters

Life and work

Honours

References

Further reading

External links