Henri Leys (1815-1869) - Farmyard Study

Henri Jean Augustin LEYS
(Antwerp, 1815 – Antwerp, 1869)

Farmyard study

Oil on paper mounted on panel
Studio stamp lower right
26 x 28.5cm
Around 1840

Coming from a Flemish family in Antwerp, Jan August Hendrick Leys was born in this same city on February 22, 1815. Son of an engraving printer, Leys entered the Academy of Fine Arts in his hometown in 1829 and followed the teaching of Mathieu-Ignace Van Brée then that of his brother-in-law Ferdinand de Braekeleer, Leys enrolled in the movement of Belgian historical romanticism and sympathized with Gustave Wappers (1803 - 1874) with whom he shared the taste for Flemish painting of the 16th and 17th centuries.

The artist traveled regularly throughout his career. In 1835, he went to Paris and for a time frequented the studio of Eugène Delacroix where he became friends with Paul Delaroche. The numerous contacts that Leys maintained with the latter between 1835 and 1839 were important for his development. In 1839 Leys made his first trip to the Netherlands. He then worked on his return around 1840 on the reconstruction of a 16th century Antwerp. Our study could fit into this artistic tempo. These works earned him great celebrity among young Belgian painters and beyond in France where he successfully participated (medal of honor reserved for Belgium) in the Universal Exhibitions of 1855 and 1867 in Paris and London in 1862. In 1852, he left for Germany to study 15th and 16th century Germanic painting and fell under the spell of masters such as A. Dürer, L. Cranach, H. Holbein and Grünewald.

Recognized for the quality of his meticulous drawing and his talents as an excellent colorist, Henri Leys was knighted on October 30, 1865, by King Leopold I and received the title of baron. He died suddenly at the age of 54 on August 26, 1869, while he had been engaged since 1863 in the interior decoration of the Antwerp City Hall where he produced large painted frescoes illustrating the history of the city.

Apart from his nephew H. De Braekeleer and L. Alma-Tadema, Leys had no real pupils in his studio. Nor was he linked to the Antwerp Academy. Despite the great influence of his work and the official recognition reserved for him, he had no real followers, and his pictorial aesthetics did not arouse any school.

The street where he lived now bears his name in homage to the talented painter that he was.

Museums: Antwerp, Brussels, Paris (Mus. du Louvre and Mus. d’Orsay), Leipzig, Chantilly, Lille, Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum), Berlin, Hamburg, Munich…