Portrait of Marie De Coster, the Artist’s Wife
Artist / maker
Gustave Vanaise (painters (artists))Date
1888Period
19th centuryCollection
Museum of Fine Arts Ghent
The Ghent artist Gustave Vanaise started out as a history painter, but simultaneously built up a career painting portraits of the middle class of Ghent and Brussels. This work displays several aspects of his portrait style. The subject is penetratingly characterised and stands in half-profile in a richly furnished middle-class interior. The loose brushwork in the woman’s clothing, the dog…
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The Ghent artist Gustave Vanaise started out as a history painter, but simultaneously built up a career painting portraits of the middle class of Ghent and Brussels. This work displays several aspects of his portrait style. The subject is penetratingly characterised and stands in half-profile in a richly furnished middle-class interior. The loose brushwork in the woman’s clothing, the dog and the background all contrast with the realistic rendering of her face. The woman is Marie De Coster, the artist’s wife, who appeared regularly in Vanaise’s work until her death in 1891.
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