A superb landscape painting of a pony with sheep off a coast by Eugene Joseph Verboeckhoven. A chestnut Shetland pony is depicted standing by a rock with her head turned towards the viewer. To the right of the pony, sheep and their lambs rest at the base of a grassy cliff whilst on the lower left hand side two butterflies are shown basking on a rock. Meanwhile, in the distance behind the group, ships can be seen making their way across the sea. The reverse bears a handwritten label signed and dated by the artist declaring that the painting is original and by him. It also retains a label for John King of Liverpool, a renowned art dealer who was operating in Liverpool during the late 19th century. He was based at 83 Renshaw Street in Liverpool from 1881 until around 1900 and was known for selling works by well-known artists including Verboeckhoven.

Eugene Joseph Verboeckhoven was born in Warneton, Belgian on 8 June 1798, the son and pupil of the artist and sculptor Barthelemy Verboeckhoven (1759-1840) and brother to Louis Verboeckhoven (1802-1889) a marine painter. In addition to being tutored by his father, he also studied at the Academy of Ghent under Albert Voituron (1787-1847) and Balthazar-Paul Ommeganck (1755-1826).

He began exhibiting in Ghent in 1820 and at the Paris Salon in 1824, quickly establishing a reputation as a painter of animals. He became widely celebrated for his work and attained great popularity during his lifetime. He was a prolific artist and was known for being meticulous in his preparation. He would often produce multiple preparatory sketches and studies on the spot for each painting which he would later complete in his studio. During the 1820’s, he travelled around Europe visiting Paris, Holland, England and Germany absorbing the techniques of the art he came across. In addition to exhibiting in Europe, he also exhibited at the Royal Academy, London.

Verboeckhoven married Apolline (Pauline) Ferdinande Hebbelinck on 19 July, 1822 and by 1827 was living in Schaerbeek, near Brussels where he remained for the rest of his life. Like many of his peers he wanted independence from the Netherlands and participated in the Belgian Revolution of 1830 for which he was award the Croix de Guerre. In 1831, he was appointed director of the Brussels Museums helping to set up the foundation for Belgian fine arts museums in the newly independent region.

During the 1830s, he established his own art studio and later began to accept students. As well as producing his own works he was often asked to collaborate on works with several Dutch landscape artists including most notably JB Klombeck, Kruseman, Daiwaille, De Jonghe, De Noter, Delavaux and the Tschaggery brothers. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Belgium in 1845 and in the same year became a professor there. He was also later elected a member of the Antwerp Academy and St. Petersburgh Academy. During his lifetime he also gained the highest country honours, receiving in France a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, the Orders of Leopold in Belgian, Michael of Bavaria, Christ of Portugal and the Iron Cross of Prussia. After a long and successful career, Verboeckhoven died in Brussels on 19 January 1881 at the age of 83.

His work is held by a number of public art collections such as the Laing Manchester Art Gallery, National Trust, New Art Gallery Walsall, Nottingham City Museums, Reading Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Walker Art Gallery, Wednesbury Museum, Williamson Art Gallery and The Wilson. Examples are also held by Museums all over the world including Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Frankfurt, Montreal and Stockholm. A photograph of Verboekhoven is in the National Portrait Gallery.

© Benton Fine Art