George MORREN
Belgian 1868–1941
Dusk 1891
(Le déclin du jour)
oil on canvas
55.0 x 67.0 cm
Private collection, Belgium
Photo: Luc Schrobiltgen

The Belgian painter George Morren, the son of a wealthy grain merchant from Antwerp, embraced Neo-Impressionism briefly between 1890 and 1892. His first art studies were undertaken at the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp, which he left after becoming dissatisfied with its conservative curriculum. Moving to Paris in 1888 in search of a more liberated style, he painted first in an Impressionist manner, before taking up Neo-Impressionism in turn. Transcending his privileged background, certain works by Morren from this period reflect a genuine empathy for the working classes of his home city, married to a close observation of atmospheric and temporal specifics, inspired by Impressionism.