Théodore Fourmois

THÉODORE FOURMOIS (Presles , France ,1814 i-Ixelles, Brussels, 1871 )
"Landscape".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 80 x 115 cm; 103 x 138 cm (frame).
This work is heir to the romantic landscape painting. We can observe a landscape where nature is portrayed in a sublime way, with a vibrant and fast brushstroke of great magnitude, also enhanced with a very novel composition.
Théodore Fourmois was a Belgian painter specialized in landscapes and genre scenes, as well as a watercolorist, draftsman and engraver. He began his training in 1826-1827 in the lithography workshops of Antoine Dewasme-Pletinckx in Brussels. He taught himself the basics of painting, developing his own style. His career began in 1836, when he presented a Landscape of the Ardennes at the Brussels Salon, which brought him immediate success. From then on he exhibited regularly in Ghent and Brussels, and participated in the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1855 and 1867. In the last years of his life he worked in Tervuren and in his native town, Presles, where he lived in 1869.
In his early stages, he became known for his depictions of the Ardennes and the Campina, producing studies from life and panoramas made during his travels in the Dauphinate and Switzerland. These works constitute some of the first attempts at plein air painting in Belgium and show the influence of the Barbizon School. His compositions, sometimes indebted to the 17th century tradition and in particular to the Dutch painter Meindert Hobbema, are distinguished by their atmospheric quality and attention to local chromatic nuances. Thus, his landscapes herald a more realistic tendency and are directly linked to the Tervuren School. Fourmois departed from the academic landscape, integrating human and animal figures into nature, and gave great importance to the act of painting directly in front of the motif.
Although part of his production retains dreamy traits that refer to Romantic painting, his direct approach to nature and the emphasis on local colors place him as one of the precursors of landscape painting in Belgium during the nineteenth century. After initially devoting himself to drawing, he practiced watercolor and oil painting. His later work is characterized by a more schematic style and the use of more vibrant tones. He also produced numerous lithographs inspired by old and contemporary masters, as well as contributing original plates for various albums and illustrated collections, including a Descriptive Tour in Scotland.