Théo van Rysselberghe

Théo Van Rysselberghe was born in Ghent in November 1862. His father, Jean-Baptiste Van Rysselberghe was a wealthy cabinetmaker. While his brothers turned to scientific careers, Théo chose the path of art. Very early on, he revealed a talent for drawing.
At only 17, he joined the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. Two years later his work was noticed at the Salon and then he got a scholarship. He left for Spain and continued through Morocco. There he discovered a warm light, vibrant and intense, which then became the center of his pictorial researches.
In 1883 he founded with Octave Maus the avant-garde group "The Twenty" in Brussels with whom he would annually exhibit.
In 1886, his friend Emile Verhaeren encouraged him to come to Paris to see "Un dimanche après-midi à l'Ile de la Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat, manifesto of pointillist painting. The following year Van Rysselberghe invited Seurat to exhibit with "The Twenty" and thus contributed to make Belgium the second home of Neo-Impressionism.
Van Rysselberghe continued travelling and settled in the South of France with Signac. But in 1898 a disagreement divided them: Theo was seeing a limit to the theories of Neo-Impressionism fiercely defended by Signac. He wanted to get closer to reality, but did not forget his research on light.
He moved to Paris and regularly traveled in Belgium and in the South to finally live in Saint-Clair (Lavandou) in 1920. He died there in October 1926.

Submitted by HELENE BAILLY