Martin Léonce Chabry (1832 - 1883)

Martin Léonce Chabry

Martin Léonce Chabry is a French painter. Thanks to his contacts and his recognized qualities, Chabry left for Paris as a resident of the City of Bordeaux and in 1854, he entered the studio of Constant Troyon. For two years, Chabry made frequent visits to Barbizon. In 1855, in Barbizon, Chabry met a Belgian-Dutch artist, Willem Roelofs, who invited him to visit Flanders. Following this advice, he settled for some time in Bruges, then visited Brussels in 1856. At that time he often worked with Verwee and Hippolyte Boulenger, in Tervuren, near Brussels. If Chabry can be considered as one of the fathers of the School of Tervueren, thanks will never be given to him in Belgium, "too French", curiously, he suffers in France from being too Belgian. In 1862, he moved to Sauternes, but continued to participate in the annual Brussels fair as well as that of Bordeaux. In 1867, the Bordeaux museum bought his first canvas, followed two years later by the King of the Belgians, Leopold II. In 1881, he undertook a long trip to Egypt, Palestine, Syria. At the end of June 1882, a personal exhibition of his trip to the East opens in Brussels.