Eugène Verboeckhoven Art

A perfect early 19th century oil on panel depicting a delightful illustration of sheep and goats. Signed lower left and dated 1825. Eugen Joseph Verboeckhoven studied with his father, and became a skilful sculptor, and later a great painter. The strict disciplines of the modeler gave the painter a trueness of form. He continued the tradition of Paul Potter and Ommeganck, and if he did not equal the former, he surpassed the latter. As a sculptor and painter with a romantic turn of mind, Verboeckhoven's depictions of animals, the main feature of his works, had an international reputation in his lifetime. They were executed according to a scumbling process which made them smooth and velvety, and appear bathed in a golden light. His success was particularly marked in the USA and England, where a large number of his works are held. Verboeckhoven was a member of the academies in Belgium, Antwerp and St Petersburg. The highest distinctions were heaped on him: the Cross of the Légion d'Honneur, the Order of Leopold of Belgium, the Order of Christ...