An elegant Couple in an Interior

Florent Willems
Liège, 1823 – Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1905

An elegant Couple in an Interior

Signed ‘F. Willems’, lower right
Oil on panel
H. 50 cm. W. 32 cm.

Provenance
Private collection, The Netherlands

Florent Willems was a Belgian painter, who mainly painted genre scenes and portraits of women. Willems was known for his vitreous and emulated technique and the meticulous rendering of textures, not only of clothing, but also of ornaments, furniture, wallpaper, and so on. He painted little anecdotes XVI and XVII centuries in a style close to that of the Dutch Old Masters such as Metsu, Ter Borch and Vermeer.

Student of the Academy of Mechelen, Willems exhibited for the first time in 1840. He came to settle in Paris in 1844 and settled there. Early recognised as restorer and talented painter, he was responsible for the restoration of St. John of Raphaël, the Louvre, and it devoted two years of work. His success was great, Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1853, Officer in 1864, Commander in 1878, he was also in the Order of Leopold, Knight in 1851, Officer in 1855, Commander in 1860. Alfred Stevens was his student and his great friend.

Museums: Amsterdam - Antwerp - Brussels - Dublin - Hamburg - Liege - Nice - Vannes - Vienna