Jan Van Beers 1852-1927

Born in Lierre, Belgium, the son of a renowned Flemish Romantic poet, Jan Van Beers grew up in a wealthy artistic and literary milieu, forming early friendships with the musician Pierre Benoit (whom he would portray in 1883) and the history painter Baron Henry Leys. Turning to painting himself, Van Beers studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and became the leader of a group of young students known as “the Van Beers Clique.” Among them were talented and promising artists such as the painters Piet Verhaert and Alexander Struys, as well as the sculptor Jef Lambeaux.

Likely encouraged by Henry Leys, Van Beers initially focused on historical subjects and a meticulous technique directly inspired by the great Flemish masters, earning unanimous admiration from critics at his first exhibitions in Belgium and France. He moved to Paris in 1878 and worked in the studio of Alfred Stevens, with whom he formed a close friendship. From 1879 onward, he produced numerous small-scale genre paintings, almost miniatures, depicting bourgeois life or portraits of elegant young women, whose delicate execution and extreme precision met with considerable success.

In 1881, at the Brussels Salon, Van Beers found himself at the center of a scandal over his painting Le Yacht La Sirène. Accused of having painted it over a photograph, the work became the subject of a highly publicized lawsuit. While the journal L’Art Moderne defended him, many critics were highly virulent, and one salon visitor even scratched the painting. Following this act of vandalism, a commission of experts carefully examined the work and cleared Van Beers of any wrongdoing. The affair ultimately cemented his career and helped make him a famous, wealthy, and admired painter.