Gustaaf Vanaise

Gustave Vanaise (birthname: Gustavus Antonius Maria Vanaise) (4 October 1854 in Ghent - 2 July 1902 in Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis) was a Belgian historical, portrait, genre, nude, landscape and still life painter. He set as his goal the revival of history painting in Belgium by creating large canvases depicting glorious scenes from national history. He also painted some Orientalist scenes. Despite his commercial success, his academic and realistic style had started to fall out of favor during his lifetime even as his later works became brighter in color and looser in touch under the influence of contemporary art trends.

Life

Vanaise was the son of Nicolaus Josephus (1821–1876), a pastry chef originally from Marche-lez-Écaussinnes, and Seraphina Antonia Vlieghe (1822–1860). He was the fourth of six children. The artist suffered from a physical deformity, which had stunted his growth, and struggled with poor health throughout his life. While attending elementary school, he assisted his father who wished to train him in the pastry business. When he was 13 years old, his father agreed to abandon his succession plan for his son and let Gustave attend the drawing classes at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, whose director was Théodore-Joseph Canneel. He learned to draw after Antique statues under the strict guidance of Canneel. He attended the academy's painting classes from 12 May 1872. After his father died in 1876, his brothers provided him with the financial means to continue his studies. On 4 March 1877, he exhibited for the first time in his hometown and sold his first painting, a landscape. The buyer was the painter Auguste Dael who would become his patron.

In March 1877, he traveled to Paris with Jules Van Syngel. He worked tirelessly at the Louvre and in Cluny. In October of that same year, he returned to Ghent with a great number of studies. He rented a studio in the premises of the Vrouwenbroeders (Carmelites) where he painted studies and portraits. The portraits of Mr. M. Em. Van Swieten and Van Hyfte date from this period.

He had a great interest in the Dutch masters with which he had become familiar in the Louvre. In early 1878, accompanied by the Dutch artist Louis Ludwig, he traveled to the Netherlands where he painted sketches after works by Frans Hals and others. In August 1878, he went for a second time to Paris, where he stayed for more than two years. He initially shared a studio with the Belgian painter Jan Van Beers, who at the time was trying to make a name as a history painter but later became the painter of the Parisian demi-monde.

Later, he shared a studio with Jef Lambeaux. In Paris, he painted large canvases in the tradition of Belgian historical painting which focused on important events and persons in the national history: Louis XI and Olivier le Daim (which was placed on the ramp at the 1879 Paris Art Exhibition, later destroyed during the German bombardment of Louvain in 1914) and Quentin Massys as a Child drawing a portrait of his Mother. These works show the influence of Jules Bastien-Lepage, the founder of the French naturalist school, and Jan Van Beers and are painted in light tones with soft brushstrokes.

In October 1880, he returned to Belgium and set up a studio with Jef Lambeaux in Saint-Gilles/Sint-Gillis. He painted for the 1881 Brussels Salon the Lady with a Parrot, a composition executed in raw, brutal colors. He often returned to Ghent, where he worked in the spacious studio that his patron Auguste Dael, had built. It was there that he created the large-scale painting Saint Livinus in Flanders, a work that, after receiving an honorable mention in Paris and a gold medal in Ghent (1883), was acquired for the city's museum. In honor of his patron, Gustave Vanaise depicted Auguste Dael as Saint Livinus.

The year 1882 was marked by a trip to Italy, which he undertook together with Jef Lambeaux and Rodolphe Wytsman. In Rome, he made copies of numerous works of art, including frescoes by Raphael and works by Velazquez. They also travelled to Venice. Rome, and Venice in particular, inspired him to create many works, mainly executed au plein air. Mid-January 1883 Lambeaux hurried back to Belgium after learning of his father's death. Vanaise and Wytsman remained in Venice to paint the scenery. Upon his return, he donated the painting The Lagoons of Venice to the Museum of Ghent. He returned to Brussels where he noticed that Lambeaux had taken over most of their studio. He then went back to his studio in Ghent provided by his benefactor Dael. Here he painted, one after another, Sunday Evening, The Good Samaritan, and the Equestrian Portrait of Mr. Dael. He became a prolific portrait painter, more out of need than conviction as he found himself in dire financial straits.

Vanaise returned to Brussels where he purchased a plot of land on Rue Moris. He had a home and studio built after a design by architect Georges Hobé, which he occupied in August 1885. He joined the artists' group La Chrysalide, which organized its own exhibitions. On 28 October 1883, Vanaise was a founding member of the Brussels-based Les XX, an association of avant-garde artists who sought to free themselves from the monopoly of the Salon system with its juries and prizes. The group organized annual exhibitions of its members' works, which also featured pieces by foreign avant-garde artists. He participated in the Les XX exhibitions for three consecutive years. As an academic painter of historical scenes who participated in the traditional salons, Vanaise, along with other academic artists in the Les XX group, became the target of attacks by avant-garde publications such as L'art moderne which led him to leave the group in 1886.

In January 1887, he traveled to Spain, this time with Jules Lambeaux, the painter and brother of the sculptor. There he studied Velázquez and Ribera, as well as Jordaens and Rubens. The Alhambra in Granada captivated him for a time. He painted a picture of the interior of a church in Granada.

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