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Anna Boch

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Anna Boch
Portrait photo of Anna Boch (before 1900)
Born10 February 1848
Saint-Vaast, Belgium
Died25 February 1936(1936-02-25)(aged 88)
Ixelles,Belgium
NationalityBelgian
Known forPainting
MovementPointillism,Impressionism

Anna-Rosalie Boch(10 February 1848 – 25 February 1936), known as Anna, was aBelgianpainter,art collector, and the only female member of the artistic group,Les XX.[1]Born inSaint-Vaast,Hainaut.Anna Boch died inIxellesin 1936 and is interred there in theIxelles Cemetery,Brussels, Belgium.[citation needed]

Boch's family was involved in art in different ways. Her father, Frédéric Victor Boch, was a successful manufacturer of porcelain; her brother,Eugène Boch,was a painter, and her cousin,Octave Maus,was an art critic.[1][2]

Artistic style

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Anna Boch, c. 1889, byThéo van Rysselberghe

Boch participated in theNeo-Impressionistmovement. Her early works used aPointillisttechnique, but she is best known for herImpressioniststyle which she adopted for most of her career. A pupil ofIsidore Verheyden,she was influenced byThéo van Rysselberghewhom she met in the artistic group, LesXX.[citation needed]

Collecting

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Boch actively collected works of art by her contemporaries. She assembled a major collection of Post-Impressionist paintings, which included works byPaul Gauguin,Paul Signac,James Ensor,andVincent van Gogh.[2][1][3]She promoted many young artists, includingVan Gogh,whom she admired for his talent and who was a friend of her brotherEugène Boch.La Vigne Rouge(The Red Vineyard),[4]purchased by Anna Boch, is believed to be the only painting Van Gogh sold during his lifetime. The Anna Boch collection was sold after her death. In her will, she donated the money to pay for the retirement of poor artist friends.[citation needed]

Legacy

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The Red Vineyard,byVincent van Gogh,(1888) bought from him by Anna Boch

140 of her own paintings were left to her godchild, Ida van Haelewijn, the daughter of her gardener. Many of these paintings show Ida van Haelewijn as a little girl in the garden. In 1968, these 140 paintings were purchased by her great nephew Luitwin von Boch, the CEO ofVilleroy & BochCeramics. The paintings remained in the house of Ida van Haelewijn until her death in 1992. The Anna & Eugène Boch Expo opened 30 March 2011.[5]

Some paintings were also donated by Anna Boch's estate to various museums like theRoyal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.[6]

Exhibitions about her life and work have been held at theRoyal Museum of MariemontatMorlanwelz,between October at December 2000, at the Vincent van Gogh-huis inHoogeveenin 2010 and at theMu.ZEEinOstendin 2023.[7]

Cultural heritage

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In 2005, the Belgian historian Dr Therèse Thomas published a catalogue raisonné.[8]

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References

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  1. ^abcBlock, Jane; Lee, Ellen Wardwell; Cultuurcentrum, I. N. G.; Art, Indianapolis Museum of (25 March 2014).The Neo-Impressionist Portrait, 1886?1904.Yale University Press. p. 189.ISBN978-0-300-19084-7.
  2. ^ab"Discover painter, art collector Anna Boch".rkd.nl.Retrieved6 February2023.
  3. ^"Anna Boch Collection".
  4. ^"History of the Red Vineyard".
  5. ^"Opening of the Anna & Eugene Boch Expo".
  6. ^Gaze, Delia; Mihajlovic, Maja; Shrimpton, Leanda (1997).Dictionary of Women Artists: Introductory surveys; Artists, A-I.Taylor & Francis. pp. 283–4.ISBN978-1-884964-21-3.
  7. ^"Anna Boch, an impressionist journey".
  8. ^"Anna Boch: catalogue raisonné".rkd.nl.Retrieved6 February2023.
  9. ^Collection de la province de Hainaut (BPS22).

Sources

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  • P. & V. Berko,Dictionary of Belgian painters born between 1750 & 1875,Knokke 1981, p. 51.
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