Jan Verhas 011 - A painting of a man wearing a hat

Verhas was known for his genre paintings often involving children of the Belgian bourgeoisie. He painted portraits of persons from the political and artistic world. Jan Verhas commenced his career as a history painter in the Belgian Romantic style. In his later period he created coastal landscapes, beach scenes, and the occasional still life of flowers. He was also a fresco painter who painted a number of historical frescoes in the city hall of his hometown Dendermonde. His earliest works dealt with history subjects and were executed in the Romantic style which was then in vogue in Belgian academic circles. His most important work from this period is the Battle of Kallo of 1863 (City Hall of Kallo), in which he depicts a cavalry skirmish in a whirlwind of figures. After moving to Brussels, he gradually developed his own Realist approach to rendering scenes of everyday life with a humoristic touch. His favourite subject were children engaged in some innocent activity or mischief. The settings of these scenes were typically interiors of bourgeois residences, princely libraries and large terraces with rich decorations and opulent furniture and accessories. These works show a certain indebtedness to Alma-Tadema in the lines of the composition.[5] His masterpiece in this genre was The Master Painter (Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent), which he contributed to the Salon of Ghent in 1877. This composition shows five children of different ages in an opulent room gathered on one side of a black shining table on which various toys are laying about. The youngest of the children, a boy wearing a bib, is shown in the middle concentrating on making his first brushstroke while his brother and sisters are looking on with encouraging and endeared gazes. The children's relaxed and natural appearance gives the scene the feeling of a casual snapshot. The warm color palette, the decorative background and the lavish furniture and delicate clothes of the children accentuate the bourgeois atmosphere. The whole composition is executed in a naturalistic, almost photo-realistic, style with attention to the accurate rendering of the different materials. One of Verhas' best known works is The parade of the schools of 1878 in the presence of King Leopold II. This enormous canvas represents the parade of 23,000 pupils from all neighborhoods of the recently modernized Brussels and other parts of Belgium which was held on 23 August 1878 to celebrate the silver wedding of King Leopold II and Queen Marie-Henriette. Leopold II strongly promoted this type of event in Belgium as they bolstered his vision of a united country. Verhas captured in this work with photographic fidelity the magnificently orchestrated spectacle of the parade. The schoolgirls are marching in strict rows on the foreground of the composition. Their uniform white dresses and golden-yellow hats give the girls a feeling of unity, while their faces are clearly individual portraits. In fact, of many of the girls the identity is known as they included daughters of prominent personalities. On a podium on the left of the picture the royal couple and members of the Belgian elite are portrayed. This painting was in its time received as a reassuring message regarding the future prosperity and unity of the Belgian nation. The painting brought together themes such as family spirit, patriotism, continuity, a familiar and encouraging modernity, and recognizable personalities. Despite the modernity of the painting, it achieved the status of a bourgeois icon. The canvas became in the Belgium of the 1880s a textbook example of academic taste and patriotism. Its popularity was further enhanced thanks to the sale of photomechanical reproductions. As a result, Verhas became one of Belgium's most celebrated painters as well as a rich man. In the artistic development of Verhas, The parade of the schools of 1878 in the presence of King Leopold II signified a move towards a clearer palette. In the final period of his artistic activity Verhas was inspired by his experiences during his lengthy stays at the Belgian coast. Here he not only observed the tourists but also the local people and customs. Working en plein air he created lively, sun-drenched scenes set on or near the beach. A representative work from this period is the Donkey ride on the beach, which shows a bourgeois family riding donkeys on the beach. The family members are all dressed in fine clothes while the donkeys are being led by local children in plain clothes.

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• Jan Verhas Oil Paintings Reproductions - BrushWiz.com
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