Henri Van Cutsem Portrait Sarah Bernhardt pastel c1903

Henri-Émile Van Cutsem (1839–1904) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

patron of the arts, and also himself a painter

Biography

Van Cutsem was born in

Brussels 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 ...

into a family of hoteliersLalibre.be: Trésors cachés à Tournai
/ref> who had become wealthy from their business. He studied law at

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

. During long stays in Paris he developed good relations with many of the artistic community. In 1890 he acquired two adjacent blocks of flats on the Avenue des Arts in

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode ( French, ) or Sint-Joost-ten-Node ( Dutch, ), often simply called Saint-Josse in French or Sint-Joost in Dutch, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part o ...

which he had refurbished by

Victor Horta Victor Pierre Horta (; Victor, Baron Horta after 1932; 6 January 1861 – 8 September 1947) was a Belgian architect and designer, and one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement. He was a fervent admirer of the French architectural theoris ...

. He died in Ochamps of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

Patronage

Van Cutsem developed his father's art collections and gave his moral and financial support to many artists, notably the sculptor Guillaume Charlier, to whom Van Cutsem bequeathed his property on the Avenue des Arts, which after Charlier's death became the

Charlier Museum The Charlier Museum (; ) is a museum in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium, exhibiting Belgian art from the end of the 19th century. The museum is often used for concerts of classical music. History The current museum b ...

, established on 21 October 1928. Among the many artists whom he supported were Édouard Agneessens,

Théodore Baron Théodore Baron (19 August 1840 - 4 September 1899) was a Belgian landscape painter in the Realism (arts), Realistic style. Biography He was initially trained in the Academicism, Academic style; first by Hippolyte de la Charlerie in Brussels, ...

Géo Bernier Géo Bernier (26 July 1862 – 28 December 1918) was a Belgian painter of landscapes and portraits, but principally of horses. He was also a poster designer. Bernier's artistic talents were discovered early on by Ferdinand Marinus, his dra ...

, Jan Van Beers,

Eugène Broerman Eugène Broerman (12 July 1861 – 7 October 1932) was a Belgian painter. Life Broerman trained at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. His house, Antoine Delporteplein 2, Saint-Gilles, has been a protected historical monument ...

Albéric Collin Albéric Collin (6 April 1886 – 27 February 1962) was a Belgian people, Belgian animalier sculptor and pastel artist. Biography Collin was born in Antwerp and was educated there, training in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp), Roya ...

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 ...

, Joseph Stevens and

Willy Finch Alfred William (Willy) Finch (1854 –1930) was a Ceramics (art), ceramist and Painting, painter in the Pointillism, pointillist and Neo-Impressionism, Neo-Impressionist style. Born in Brussels to British parents, he spent most of his creati ...

Legacy

Van Cutsem's collections were given to the Musée des Beaux-Arts in

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

Notes and references

External links

HetStillepand.be: Henri Van Cutsem

Tento.be: Henri Van Cutsem
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutsem, Henri Van 1839 births 1904 deaths Businesspeople from Brussels Deaths from pneumonia in Belgium Belgian art collectors Belgian patrons of the arts