OMER COPPENS

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Belgian School     (1864–1926) 

Oil on Canvas Marouflage, Signed

16.5" x 16.5" framed

Painted around 1820, this charming study of a shepherd and his sheep is typical of the work Coppens produced during this period. Similar views are illustrated in the catalogue raisonne of the artist’s work published in 2001. The work of Omer Coppens can be divided into two distinct categories. Firstly, his intriguing symbolist paintings were produced from around 1885-1895, and secondly, his Impressionist work from 1895-1925.

Omer Coppens was born in Dunkirk, France in 1864 to Belgian parents. As a young man he enrolled at the Academy of Ghent where he received instruction from Theodore Canneel, the elderly patriarch of Ghent painting. In 1884 he continued his studies at the Academy of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode and frequently visited the ateliers of Isidore Meyers and Jean Capeinick. Around this time, he was to meet the painter Theo van Rysselberghe whose influence, particularly by his introduction to the ideals of pointillism, was to prove profound. Together they embarked on a series of visits to Normandy painting mostly coastal views. It was at this time that he commenced painting the eerie nocturnes, with a liberal use of Prussian blue, that he has become synonymous. Returning to Belgium his career was beginning to blossom and the public and critics were becoming enamored with his work. A frequent exhibitor at most of Belgium’s art institutions, his work from this period consists predominantly of scenes of Belgian towns and the countryside. It was during this period that he took on several commissions to illustrate art books and periodicals in an Art Nouveau manner. In 1887 he co-founded, along with Emile Fabry, George Morren, and Richard Viandier, the group known as Pour l’Art, arguably the most important and influential circle of artists of the day. He was to hold the position of Secretary of the group from 1894-1904 holding prominent positions in several academies and institutions. His career, as with many of his contemporaries, was interrupted by World War I but unlike most of his fellow artists, he chose to remain in Belgium throughout the hostilities rather than flee to Switzerland or Spain.

After the Armistice of 1918 Coppens resumed his career and for two years traveled extensively visiting France, Italy, Morocco, and Tunisia. Coppens was to die in the town of Ixelles, on the outskirts of Brussels in 1926. 

His paintings can be seen in the museums of Bruges and Ostend and many important private collections. A highly successful and remarkably complete exhibition of the artist’s work was held at the Centre d’Art de Rouge-Cloitre in Auderghem, Belgium in 2001.