(Belgium 1867–1930) Working in the Field, signed Ch De Groux, several old exhibition labels on the reverse, oil on panel, 41 x 55 cm, framed, (W)

Henri Jules Charles Corneille de Groux Painter, pastelist, sculptor and lithographer. As the son of Charles de Groux he lived in Paris. His father died when he was 3 years old, however, his familiarity with his father’s works influenced his choice of career. He studied at the Brussels Academy under Portaels, C. Meuniers, F. Rups, X. Mellery and A. Stevens. He generated a sensation at his first exhibition in Brussels in 1891 with his colossal painting “Le christ aux outrages”. Initially written off as an eccentric realist, later it was the symbolic and visionary elements which came to the fore in his works. Groux’s paintings simmer and seethe, an uncontrolled temperament explodes in visions of colour. His literary tendencies surge to the fore. Groux was a fan of the gruesome. From 1893 onwards he regularly exhibited at the official salon and in 1901 he organized a special, extensive show. Groux also became known outside Belgium through a special exhibition at the Galerie Miethke in Vienna. Around this time the artist left Paris for the tiny Flemish town of Merveille, immersed himself in his work and ignored the world, so that it was generally believed he had died. The First World War was to give Groux material for new paintings