Eugène Verboeckhoven

Eugène Verboeckhoven painted sheep, cattle, goats and horses with extraordinary precision. Every curl of wool and every hair of a coat is there, and his animals stand in calm pastures under soft, clear skies. He was the most popular animal painter in Belgium in the nineteenth century.

He was born in Warneton in West Flanders, the son of a sculptor, and he sculpted, etched and made lithographs as well as painting. He travelled in France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, took part in the Belgian Revolution of 1830, and later served as a director of the Brussels museums of fine arts. He often painted the animals in other artists’ landscapes.

A White Stallion in a Landscape and Ewe and Lamb with Goat show his typical subjects. Look closely at the fleece of his sheep, which is the detail collectors loved most.