Anna-Rosalie Boch (10 February 1848 – 25 February 1936), known as Anna, was a Belgian

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, art collector, and the only female member of the artistic group,

Les XX ''Les XX'' ( French; "''Les Vingt''"; ; ) was a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors, formed in 1883 by the Brussels lawyer, publisher, and entrepreneur Octave Maus. For ten years, they held an annual exhibition of their a ...

. Born in Saint-Vaast, Hainaut. Anna Boch died in

Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...

in 1936 and is interred there in the Ixelles Cemetery,

Brussels, Belgium Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. Boch's family was involved in art in different ways. Her father, Frédéric Victor Boch, was a successful manufacturer of porcelain; her brother,

Eugène Boch Eugène Boch (1 September 1855 – 3 January 1941) was a Belgian painter, born in Saint-Vaast, La Louvière, Hainaut. He was the younger brother of Anna Boch, the only female member of Les XX. Life Eugène Boch was born into the fifth generat ...

, was a painter, and her cousin, Octave Maus, was an art critic.

Artistic style

Boch participated in the Neo-Impressionist movement. Her early works used a Pointillist technique, but she is best known for her

Impressionist 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 ...

style which she adopted for most of her career. A pupil of

Isidore Verheyden Isidore Verheyden (24 January 1846, in Antwerp – 1 November 1905, in Elsene) was a Belgium, Belgian painter of landscapes, portraits and still life. He was the son of painter Jean-François Verheyden; his first teacher at the Académie Roya ...

, she was influenced by

Théo van Rysselberghe Théophile "Théo" van Rysselberghe (23 November 1862 – 13 December 1926) was a Belgian Neo-impressionism, neo-impressionist Painting, painter, who played a pivotal role in the European art scene at the turn of the twentieth century. Bi ...

whom she met in the artistic group,

Collecting

Boch actively collected works of art by her contemporaries. She assembled a major collection of Post-Impressionist paintings, which included works by

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

Paul Signac Paul Victor Jules Signac ( , ; 11 November 1863 – 15 August 1935) was a French Neo-Impressionist painter who, with Georges Seurat, helped develop the artistic technique Pointillism. Biography Paul-Victor-Jules Signac was born in Paris on ...

James Ensor James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic ...

, and

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

. She promoted many young artists, including

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...

, whom she admired for his talent and who was a friend of her brother

. '' La Vigne Rouge'' (''The Red Vineyard''), purchased by Anna Boch, is believed to be the only painting Van Gogh sold during his lifetime. The Anna Boch collection was sold after her death. In her will, she donated the money to pay for the retirement of poor artist friends.

Legacy

140 of her own paintings were left to her godchild, Ida van Haelewijn, the daughter of her gardener. Many of these paintings show Ida van Haelewijn as a little girl in the garden. In 1968, these 140 paintings were purchased by her great nephew Luitwin von Boch, the CEO of

Villeroy & Boch Villeroy & Boch (, ) is a French-German manufacturer of ceramics, with the company headquarters located in Mettlach, Saarland. History The company began in the tiny Lorraine village of Audun le Tiche, where the iron master François Boch set ...

Ceramics. The paintings remained in the house of Ida van Haelewijn until her death in 1992. The Anna & Eugène Boch Expo opened 30 March 2011. Some paintings were also donated by Anna Boch's estate to various museums like the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. Exhibitions about her life and work have been held at the Royal Museum of Mariemont at

Morlanwelz Morlanwelz (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Morlanwelz had a total population of 18,595. The total area is 20.26 km2 which gives a population density of 918 inhabitants per km2 ...

, between October at December 2000, at the Vincent van Gogh-huis in

Hoogeveen Hoogeveen (; or '' 't Oveine'') is a municipality and a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Population centres Elim, Fluitenberg, Hoogeveen and Noordscheschut, which still have the canals which used to be throughout the town. Other v ...

in 2010 and at the Mu.ZEE in

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

in 2023.

Cultural heritage

In 2005, the Belgian historian Dr Therèse Thomas published a catalogue raisonné.

Gallery

Image:Anna Boch Die Wasserträgerin.jpg, ''Die Wasserträgerin'', 33 x 25 cm. Image:Anna Boch 004.JPG, ''Sur la côte de la Mer du Nord'', (1887) 53 x 91 cm. Image:Anna Boch - Femme lisant dans un massif de Rhododendrons.jpg, ''Femme lisant dans un massif de rhododendrons'', (around 1900) 67 x 106 cm. Image:Anna boch a view of veere zeeland.jpg, ''Vue de Veere, Zélande'', (around 1906) 38,5 x 53,5 cm. Image:Ostende muzee boch tijdens.JPG, ''Pendant l'élévation'', (1879) 74.5 x 113 cm. Image:Anna Boch001.jpg, ''Rivages de Bretagne'', (around 1901) File:Anna Boch Falaise - Côte de Bretagne - 1900-1902.jpg, ''Falaise - Côte de Bretagne'', 62 x 84 cm. PM 150653 B Anna Boch.jpg , ''En Juin'', (1894) Image:Anna Boch - retour de la messe par les dunes.jpg, ''Retour de la messe par les dunes''.Collection de la province de Hainaut ( BPS22).

References

Sources

* P. & V. Berko, ''Dictionary of Belgian painters born between 1750 & 1875'', Knokke 1981, p. 51.

External links

*
Anna Boch.com
- includes painting reproductions *

Anna Boch
at The Athenaeum {{DEFAULTSORT:Boch, Anna 1848 births 1936 deaths People from La Louvière Post-impressionist painters Burials at Ixelles Cemetery 19th-century Belgian painters 20th-century Belgian painters 20th-century Belgian women painters 19th-century Belgian women painters