THE JOSEPH AND ROSALIE SEGAL COLLECTION
OF EUROPEAN AND VICTORIAN PAINTINGS

Theodore Gerard (Belgian 1829-1895)

Henry Guillaume Schlesinger (French 1814-1893)

Henry Guillaume Schlesinger was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and began his artist career at the Fine Art Academy in Vienna. He moved to Paris to study where he spent much of his life, adopting French nationality in 1870 and exhibiting at the Paris Salon from 1840 to 1847. While visiting Istanbul early in his career he was commissioned to paint portraits for Sultan Mahmud II in 1837, one of which is now at Versailles. The artist was a frequent visitor to the Sultan’s court which provided ample subjects for his Orientalist paintings upon his return to France. He became known for his elegant portrayals of women in gardens and interiors, and many of his genre scenes were made into prints further spreading his popularity. Schlesinger received the title of a Chevalier in the Legion of Honor, and was also an active member of the Société des Artistes Francais.

Edwin Roberts (British 1840-1917)

Victorian artist Edwin Thomas Roberts was immensely popular for his charming genre scenes which were widely sought after. This is an excellent example of his work which often depicted comical scenes including children, set in idyllic country or small village backgrounds. He worked and exhibited in London, displaying a total of forty-six works at Suffolk Street between 1862 and 1886 and three works at the Royal Academy between 1882 and 1884 where he was very well received.

John Burr (British 1831-1893)

John Burr was a Scottish oil and watercolour painter of children, humerous genre scenes, portraits and landscapes. Born in Edinburgh in 1831, he painted portraits and landscapes for the upper classes in small Scottish communities before enrolling at the Trustees’ Academy in Edinburgh. He remained at the Academy until 1861 when he and his younger brother, artist Alexander moved to London to establish a studio. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1862 and would exhibit a total of eighteen paintings there prior to his death in 1893.  He exhibited regularly during his time in London, as well as in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester. Burr was elected in 1875 a member of the Society of British Artists and in 1883 a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. He was president of the Society of British Artists from 1881 until 1886.

Julius Exner (Danish 1825-1910)

Danish painter John Julius Exner was born in Copenhagen in 1825 and showed interest in painting and drawing from a young age. He received private instruction prior to being admitted to the Danish Royal Academy, where he studied under Golden Age painter Wilhelm Eckersberg. Exner first exhibited at the Royal Academy where he was well received. He received a travel bursary from the academy which allowed him to travel throughout Europe for two years. In 1864 he became a member of the Royal Academy, member of the exhibition committee of The Danish Royal Academy Charlottenborg in 1879, and head of the committee in 1890. He was also a professor at the Academy from the mid 1870’s and was responsible for teaching many of the students who would go on to form the Skagen painters including Paul Fischer, Vilhelm Hammershøi, Julius Paulsen and P.S. Krøyer. He exhibited widely including at the Charlottenborg Spring exhibition almost every year from 1844 until his death in 1910. 

Exner’s early work consisted mostly of historical subjects and portraits before he was encouraged to paint regional Danish subjects in the new nationalistic art movement. He discovered Amager, an island south of Copenhagen settled in 1521 by Dutch farmers whose lifestyle and traditions were little known to the rest of Denmark. Exner’s romantic depictions of the villagers propelled him to even greater recognition, and many of his works were reproduced as prints. Exner painted in Amager for many years, and as he became more skilled his works expanded to combine interiors and landscapes and include larger groups and traditional costumes. His paintings offered the Danish public the opportunity to learn about a community that they knew little about, and they were fascinated. His work encompassed a strong sense of patriotism and he expanded his subjects to other small villages and communities throughout Denmark including the island of Fano where he would spend summers with his family capturing a way of life quickly being lost to industry and social change.

Hans Andersen Brendekilde (Danish 1857-1942)

This charming and animated scene from 1903 is an excellent example of Brendekilde’s work depicting idyllic, happy subjects including children and garden scenes. The location is most likely close to his large home in Jyllinge on the west coast of Denmark where he planted an extensive garden with more than 3000 species of flowers, possibly influenced by Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny.

Born Hans Andersen in Copenhagen, Brendekilde originally studied sculpture at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen before turning to painting early in his career. He shared a studio in Copenhagen with his good friend artist Lauritz Andersen Ring and their work was often confused as they shared many similarities including being raised in the countryside, painting in a similar style and having the same last name. Both artists added additional names Brendekilde and Ring to their surnames after their hometowns. They were the first Danish artists to begin to depict the reality of the rural working poor in Denmark, and this bold new Social Realism and plein-air painting was to have a profound influence on Danish painting. Brendekilde’s debut exhibition at the Royal Danish Academy was a great success, however he struggled financially. He was invited by patron Lars Ebbesen to live rent free on Petersminde farm in Raagelund on the island of Funen where he could focus on his painting. Ebbesen extended the invitation to L.A. Ring and the artist colony grew to include H.P. Carlsen, Søren Lund and Julius Paulsen. 

During the 1880’s Brendekilde’s work became internationally recognized, and he won numerous awards. He continued to paint and exhibit his expressive social realist paintings, but also illustrated novels and became influential in introducing the British Arts and Crafts movement to Denmark. He included his carved frames as part of his paintings which were a success at the Great Nordic Exhibition in Copenhagen in 1888, inspiring other artists such as Harald Slott-Møller and J.F. Willumsen. Brendekilde also worked for the pottery firm Herman Kähler and with Glassworks of Funen, and is regarded as the first artist working with glass in Denmark. As he aged his paintings became less a call for socialist reform and his subjects were more idyllic, depicting happier subjects painted near his home in Jyllinge where he built a large home with an extensive garden.

Evert Pieters (Dutch 1856-1932)

Dutch artist Evert Pieters is best known for his genre scenes depicting local fishing and farming communities, including mothers and children playing, inspired by the villages he lived in. Born into a poor family in Amsterdam, he originally apprenticed as a house painter before moving to Antwerp, Belgum, where he studied at the Royal Academy. He began painting interiors and still lifes to support himself while he continued an apprenticeship with the artist Theodoor Verstraete. He moved frequently between Belgium and the Netherlands, marrying in 1895 and settling in France. Here, he was introduced to the work of the Barbizon School and the Impressionists which influenced his handling of light. He moved back to the Netherlands in 1897 and by 1917 had settled in Laren where he created a set in his studio of a farmhouse interior and planted a decorative garden to use as a background for his paintings. He exhibited widely and won many awards, and his work was very successful with American collectors. Today his work can be found in museums and institutions throughout Europe and America.

The celebrated genre and figure artist William Banks Fortescue made a notable contribution to an artistic movement known as British Impressionism which developed out of artist colonies in Newlyn and St. Ives in the southwest of Cornwall. In favour of a plein air style of painting which echoed the ideals of Impressionism in France, the movement used local models to capture the daily activities of the community. Fortescue was highly regarded, painting with depth, richness of colour and realism while capturing the light and atmosphere of the region and the character of his figures. He exhibited at the leading London galleries from 1880 including the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the Royal Society of British Artists, including sixteen works at the Royal Academy.

Arvid Aae was born in Jonhannishus, Sweden but moved to Denmark as a young boy where became a citizen in 1903. He was educated as a painter and draughtsman at Gustaf Vermehren’s Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, Denmark where he graduated in 1895, and at the Danish Royal Academy where he graduated in 1901. In 1905 he married fellow artist Olga Herriet Rasmussen and the same year painted an altarpiece for the Church in Brande. He travelled through Paris and Italy on a scholarship from the Academy in 1905-6 where he painted landscapes en plein air, including several from Tuscany. His etching of a mother with child was exhibited in Paris in 1906. He is known for his landscapes, portraits and genre paintings, many of children. Aae exhibited at Charlottenborg between 1910 and 1914. He is represented in Kolding Museum as well as private collections. Arvid Aae died in 1913 at the young age of 36 on Jutland in Denmark.

Celebrated genre painter Wenzel Tornøe was known for his happy, anecdotal portraiture and genre scenes painted in the traditional Charlottenborg style enhanced by his bright pallet and strong composition. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy from 1860 to 1865, and under the well-known painter Carl H. Bloch. He exhibited at the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition in 1865 where he continued to exhibit throughout his career until his death 1907, missing only three years. Tornøe began as a historical painter, however in 1864 turned to genre painting taking many of his subjects from his extensive travels throughout Europe.