Farm Drawn In Pencil, Eugène Verboeckhoven (1866)

Signed and framed pencil drawing by Belgian animal painter Eugène Verboeckhoven.

About the artist:

Eugène Verboeckhoven (1798-1881) was a Belgian Romantic painter who is still recognized worldwide as an animal painter. He made his debut as an exhibitor at the Ghent Salon of 1820 and, two years later, painted a state portrait of King William I on horseback. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam acquired several of Verboeckhoven's works in 1824 and 1825. In his hometown of Ghent, he earned his living as an illustrator of lithographs. During the Belgian struggle for independence in 1830, he joined Chasteler's corps of hunters as a convinced patriot. After the revolution, he undertook a study trip to Italy where he was inspired by the picturesque landscapes of the Campagna Romana. At the Paris Salon of 1841, Verboeckhoven won a gold medal with the work Sheep Frightened by a Storm. In 1852-1853, the artist completed several commissions for King Leopold I: a painting depicting his favorite animals and a portrait of the king on horseback. Verboeckhoven's painting style fell out of fashion after 1860, influenced in part by the emerging realism. His submissions to the Salons were no longer as unanimously positive. He continued to paint in his own style, unconcerned with the evolution of painting. In 1882, a year after his death, part of his studio was publicly sold. With the revaluation of 19th-century painting, his works are now reaching record prices at auction. This work was wrongly attributed at the beginning of the 20th century to the Antwerp painter Henri de Braekeleer (1840-1888), which explains the attribution error on the list. Condition: The pencil drawing and the frame are in good condition and show signs of normal wear. The dimensions do not include the frame.