In Namur, with our Belgian friends, the Galerie du Beffroi exhibits until March 3 works by the painter Eugène Colignon (1876-1961) through a perspective of the students of the painting course of Pierre Debatty, from the Academy of Fine Arts of the city.
Eugène Colignon studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Namur, where he was born. He then perfected his skills in Brussels with Isidore Verheyden, traveled to Brittany twice, before and after the Great War. He will also visit Germany, Algeria whose light he described in his correspondence. He will also stay in Italy in Rome and Florence. Like Désiré Merny, who was his young teacher, Colignon painted many landscapes of his native country. Although he was influenced at his beginnings by the French Neo-Impressionists, his broad and frank touch would rather bring him closer to an Édouard Manet or an Armand Guillaumin.
Eugène Colignon happily painted the shores of the Meuse and the snowy landscapes. Member of the XX group, like James Ensor or Théo Van Rysselberghe, he was a drawing teacher at the Academy of Namur from 1930 to 1946 and died in the same city in 1961.
As part of its exhibition, "Namur Landscapes of Yesterday and Today", the Galerie du Beffroi presents works by Eugène Colignon alongside paintings by his distant fellows Fine Arts students who were freely inspired by his themes.
Rue du Beffroi 13
5000 Namur
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