Louis Robbe (1806-1887), Rural Scene, 1863

Oil, canvas 40 x 60 lightly framed in inlaid gold frame, 64 x 85 cm; signed l.d. "Robbe"; brass plate with the author's name.Louis Robbe was a Belgian artist who was born in Kortrijk in 1806 and died in Brussels in 1887. He was an animal painter and engraver. He was the brother of Henri Robbe. He trained at the Kortrijk Academy and was a pupil of J.B. De Jonghe (1920s). Also a student of Verboeckhoven. He received his doctorate in law from Ghent University in 1830 and took over his father's office in 1935. He made his painting debut around 1833-1835. He settled in Brussels in 1840 and became a clerk at the Ministry of Finance. He preferred scenes with cattle, sheep and goats. Realistic design. Later he also focused on landscape. He had a great influence on the younger generation of animal painters. From the press: "For Louis Robbe, the landscape was not a "decoration" but a space in which his figures moved. He preferred cows, which he depicted anatomically correct and without ornamentation. The figures depicted, usually shepherds, herdsmen and shepherdesses, play a subordinate role in the landscape. Works in museums in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Kortrijk, Liège and Tournai. Mentioned in the Lexicon of West Flanders Artists.