Willems, Florent

An artist at an easel shows his work to a girl

Important letter

I did not receive art education. Improved in painting by copying and restoring old paintings in Raspberry , where he lived since 1832. He attended lectures at a local academy. To obtain the necessary funds for further training, he worked as a restorer in the gallery of Brussels. He studied the skill of Dutch artists of the XVII century.

In 1842, at the age of 19, he exhibited for the first time at the Brussels Salon. Soon after, in 1844 he settled in Paris , where his paintings were very popular.

He taught painting at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts . Among his famous students are Charles Bonnier and others.

Portrait painter and genre artist. The plots for his paintings, mainly of a small size, were taken partly from history, partly from the domestic life of the aristocratic and prosperous layers of the Flemish and modern Belgian society. The main feature of his works is rare grace; in particular, he became famous for his amazing diminution to convey the brilliance of silk fabrics and satin, in which he approaches the skill of Gerard Terborch and Gabriel Metsu .

His most famous paintings are “Maria Medici Visits Rubens”, “The Gunsmith”, “The Bride Tidy Up to the Crown” (at the Brussels Museum), “The Lady with the Parrot” (at the Chicago Museum), “Visit”, “Behind the Toilet”, “ Departure ”,“ Captivity of Joan of Arc ”and“ Engagement Ring ”; the last five paintings were in the Kushelev Gallery of the Museum of the Academy of Arts , of which “Visit” and “Behind the Toilet” are now in the State Hermitage .

• Cavalier of the Order of Leopold I (1851)
• Knight of the Legion of Honor (1853)
• Officer of the Legion of Honor (1854)
• Officer of the Order of Leopold I (1855)
• Commander of the Order of Leopold I (1860)
• Commander of the Legion of Honor (1878)

• Willems, Florent // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• Florent Willems (1823-1905 )