Description
Maurice Blieck (Belgian, 1876-1922) Figures at the Seashore
Oil on canvas relined. Circa 1900 Impressionist art nouveau period.
A serene oil painting of a French or Belgium seaside beach. Soothing colors Create a scene that reminds one of the healing ocean air and the sounds of crashing waves. Ladies in white, children playing in the sand, and two seagulls in the blue sky; the row boat being rocked by gentle waves.
No Frame
Canvas Dimansions: 15.75 Inches (40 cm) X 19.75 inches (50.2 cm)
Signed lower left: Maurice Blieck
Provenance: Christies
Condition: Excellent, cleaned with relined canvas.
Maurice Blieck was born in Laken in 1876. A pupil of the nearby Brussels Academy, he first came to public and critical attention in 1895 when, at the age of nineteen, he was invited to show at the Exposition de Ghent. The previous year he, along with a number of other young artists, had formed the art group `Le Sillon’ a loosely grouped society of painters intending to form their own exhibitions away from the established art institutions. In 1896 he went on a tour of France to gain further experience, from there traveling to London. His work during this period consisted mostly of dramatic figurative pieces although it would be as a portraitist that he would later establish his reputation. Returning to Belgium he settled in the art colony of Rouge-Cloitre only to move again in 1914 at the outbreak of World War One. For the duration of hostilities he lived in London where, from a house in Chelsea, he submitted works for inclusion in the exhibitions of the Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. In 1919 he settled finally in Brussels where he was to die three years later at the age of forty-six. His paintings are remembered for their wonderfully skilled chiaroscuro and the haunting melancholy of their subjects. As a portraitist he counted many of Belgium’s literati and artisans amongst his sitters including the painter, Frans Smeers and the romance writer Georges Eckhoud. Paintings by Maurice Blieck are housed in a number of museums including those at Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Ixelles and Verviers.
Lit; E. Benezit
