Egide Charles Gustave, Baron Wappers (23 August 18036 December 1874) was a Belgian painter. His work is generally considered to be Flemish and he signed his work with the Dutch form of his name, Gustaaf Wappers.

Biography

thumb|325px|left|[[Episode of the Belgian Revolution of 1830, 1835. Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels.]]

He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and during 1826<!--OR: during 1826-182? --> in Paris. The Romantic movement with its new ideas about art and politics was astir in France. Wappers was the first Belgian artist to take advantage of this state of affairs, and his first exhibited painting, "The Devotion of the Burgomaster of Leiden," appeared at the appropriate moment and had great success in the Brussels Salon in 1830, the year of the Belgian Revolution. While political, this remarkable work revolutionized the direction of Flemish painters.

Wappers was invited to the court at Brussels, and was favoured with commissions. In 1832 the city of Antwerp appointed him Professor of Painting.

  • : Member of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order.
  • : commander of the order of Leopold (Belgium).
  • : officer of the Legion of Honour.

<gallery mode="nolines" widths="400" heights="200">

File:Anthonie van Dijck verliefd op zijn model Rijksmuseum SK-A-1159.jpeg|Anthony van Dyck wooing his Model, 1827

File:Christopher Columbus in chains 2000 NYE 08355 0008 000(125331).jpg|Christopher Columbus in Chains, 1846

File:Gustave Wappers - Le Dauphin au Temple.jpg|The Dauphin in the Temple Prison, 1850

File:Gustaaf Wappers Boccaccio.jpg|Giovanni Boccaccio reads The Decameron to Joanna of Naples, 1868

File:Portret van Marie-Louise, Koningin der Belgen.jpg|Marie-Louise, Queen of the Belgians, 1855

File:Jonge kunstenares in mijmering, Gustave Wappers, 1857, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen, 1187.jpg|Young artist in reverie, 1857

File:Gustaf Wappers Le Camoens.jpg|Luís de Camões and his guide, 1855

File:Gustave Wappers - The Shulammite.jpg|The Shulammite, 1870

</gallery>

References

Further reading

  • P. & V. Berko, "Dictionary of Belgian painters born between 1750 & 1875", Knokke 1981, pp.&nbsp;785–787.
  • P. & V. Berko, "19th Century European Virtuoso Painters", Knokke 2011, p.&nbsp;520, illustrations pp.&nbsp;422–423.
  • <!--small initial 'd'-->du Jardin, Jules L'Art flamand.
  • Fétis, E. 'Notice sur Gustave Wappers' in Annuaire de l'academie royale de Belgique (1884).
  • Hostyn, N., 'Gustaf Wappers' in Nationaal Biografisch Woordenboek, 18, Brussels, 2007.
  • Lemonnier, Camille Histoire des beaux arts en Belgique

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