PAUL MATHIEU ~ Reflections on a Tranquil Day ~ Sold

This important Belgian luminist painter was born in 1872 in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode near Brussels.  He was a pupil of the Schaarbeek and Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Schools of Art.  Mathieu began teaching at the Brussels Fine Arts Academy in 1893.  With only a few years difference, Mathieu was a near contemporary of the Impressionist Masters and his oeuvre represents a celebration of Nature in the same manner as that of Monet, Sisley or Pissarro. His canvases are painted freely and spontaneously, seeking to catch the charm of certain fleeting moments in Nature. His exquisite sense of colour and the feeling of freshness and tranquillity emanating from these paintings justify and secure his position among the foremost Belgian landscape artists in the early 20th century.

Mathieu’s oeuvre became characterized by an individuality and uniqueness of style that is fully the artist’s own, raising him above numerous landscapists who ultimately reveal themselves as followers of the earlier Masters. As described by one newspaper at the time, Mathieu became le peintre le plus moderne, le plus libre et le plus clair de toute la bohème Parisienne’.  The quality of Mathieu’s landscapes goes beyond their inherent beauty and decorative function; they are expressive and endowed with a feeling of freedom and peace that invites the viewer to enter the pictorial realm.  Mathieu’s compositions were invariably bathed in a luminosity that surrounded and almost penetrated every element in Nature.  His work attracted royal, private and public collectors including Queen Elizabeth of Belgium who personally purchased one of his paintings, the Musee du Luxembourg which now owns a group of his paintings and the Petite Palais.  Official recognition followed when he was made Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur.
Exhibitions of his works include Salon de Bruxelles 1893; Le Sillon, Brussels 1899; Salon de Bruxells 1901; Salon d’Anvers 1904; Ghent Exhibition 1912; Galerie G. Petit, Paris 1920; Galleria Pesaro, Milan 1925.

Today his works can be found in numerous Museums, including:  Musee dAnvers; Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels; Musee du Luxembourg, Paris; Petit Palais, Paris; Musee des Beaux-Arts, Liege.

This superb and important example of his work is presented in pristine condition, in its original period frame, and is signed and dated by the artist.  Verso are exhibition labels.