ALPHONSE VAN BEURDEN JR.

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Belgian School,  1878-1962 

Oil on Canvas, Signed

29.25" x 35" framed

Antwerp is located in the Flanders region of Belgium, on the Schelde (Scheldt) River, about 55 miles from the North Sea. The Schelde, together with the Meuse and the Rhine, form the biggest estuary in Western Europe, making Antwerp one of the greatest harbors in the world. Since the Middle Ages, this great Flemish city was an economic and cultural powerhouse, producing such major artists of the Seventeenth century as Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens, Anthony Van Dyck, and Frans Snyders. Two centuries later, this artistic capital would bring forth the great Belgian Post-Impressionist painter, Gerardus Alphonsus Van Beurden Jr. 

Alphonse van Beurden Jr. was born in 1878, the son of Susanna Delvaen and the Belgian sculptor, Alphonse van Beurden Sr. (1854- 1938). Raised in a talented family, the young artist initially studied under his father's instruction. While still a young man, Alphonse Jr. decided to pursue a career as a painter rather than a sculptor, and enrolled at the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. One of his professors was Baron Franciscus Eduardus Maria (Franz) Courtens (1854–1943), a famous Belgian artist known for his paintings of nature and landscapes and a leading figure in the ‘Dendermonde School’. Later in his career, Alphonse Jr. himself would go on to teach at the Academy. 

Upon graduation, Alphonse van Beurden Jr. became friends with a close circle of well-known Belgian artists; Celos, Hageman, De Graef, Gastermans, and DeRoover. It was through this association of Belgian painters, that both Alphonse Jr. and Alphonse Sr. joined the artist group known as the `Als ik Kan' or “If I Can”. This influential group of artists remained active from 1883 to 1952. 

Alphonse Jr.’s brother John van Beurden, was also very talented and designed the artist’s painting studio in Schupstraat (1904) and his home in Capiaumontstraat (1911) in Antwerp. The brothers were very active in the social and cultural affairs in Antwerp. It wasn’t long before Alphonse Jr. soon married Maria Sylvia Kerckx, while his brother John married his sister-in-law Joanna Mathilda Kerckx, both daughters of Jan Baptist Kerckx, a well-respected sculptor in Antwerp. 

Early in his career, Alphonse van Beurden painted primarily landscapes and forest views in the traditional style of his teacher and mentor Franz Courtens. To supplement his income he even undertook several commissions in Antwerp painting decorative paneling. By the end of the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century however, the loose and colorful expressiveness of Impressionism was beginning to make an impact throughout Europe and soon caught the attention of Alphonse Jr. Developing a Post-Impressionist style himself, he broadened his color palette, brush technique, and subject matter. Besides landscapes, river, and harbor views, Alphonse began painting still-life’s, interiors, figurative pictures, and nudes in bright and bold Impressionist style. He was friends with fellow artist Eugeen Van Mieghem who, due to lack of money, had his wife Augustine Pautre pose as a model for Van Beurden. 

 After a tremendously successful artistic career, Alphonse van Beurden Jr. passed away in 1962. Paintings by van Beurden can be seen at theMmuseum of Antwerp in Belgium and collections throughout the world.