Pointillism Barbizon School
Adriaan Jozef Heymans
Antwerp 11.06.1839 — Brussels-Capital Region December 1921
Adriaan Jozef Heymans was a Belgian impressionist landscape painter. In 1853, he entered the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp), later attended the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, but he always considered himself to be essentially self-taught. During a stay in Paris from 1855 to 1858, he was strongly influenced by the Barbizon School. By the time of the Brussels Salon in 1860, he was turning toward impressionism. He soon returned to Wechelderzande and began painting plein air, both there and in the vicinity of Kalmthout. Many other painters came to the Kempen area seeking inspiration; often living in tent camps and waiting for the desired lighting effects. He was one of the foundres of Kalmthoutse School of painting, also known as the "Grey School" because of their preference for grey and silvery shades. He is also considered to be a member of the "Dendermondse School" and the "Genkse School", because he was active in those areas. In 1869, he married and settled in Brussels, where he was a c0-founder of the Société Libre des Beaux-Arts and several artists' associations.[1] In 1881, he became an officer in the Order of Leopold and was named a Knight in the French Legion of Honor. Sometime in the 1890s, he returned to Kalmthout and his style slowly evolved into a form of realism with occasional touches of pointillism to accentuate the colors.
1839–1921