Vaches a Pâture
EMILE VAN MARCKE DE LUMMEN
(1827 - 1890)
Vaches a Pâture
Oil on canvas
20 x 25 inches
Signed

Emile van Marcke was born in Sèvres - into a family of artists. His grandfather was Charles van Marcke (1773-1830), a Belgian artist who settled in Brussles and specialized in porcelain painting.  His father was Jean-Baptiste (1797-1848), the eldest son of Charles van Marcke and a painter who specialized not only in landscape and animal paintings, but also works on porcelain. Jean-Baptiste, along with his parents, moved to Liège in c.1810 and worked at the Manufacture de Sèvres from 1825 – c.1832; where he met his wife Julie Palmyre Robert who was not only the daughter of the director of the Manufacture, but an accomplished still life artist.

Their eldest child, Emile, was born on August 25, 1827 and from an early age was surrounded by artists and artisans. In c.1832 his family returned to Liège, in Belgium, and as soon as he was old enough, Emile was enrolled in a local academy to study drawing. Emile obviously received a great deal of additional support and training from his family and like many of them, he began his career at the Manufacture of Sèvres – where he worked from 1853 – 1862.  During his employment he had the opportunity to meet the famous animal painter Constant Troyon who convinced Emile to ‘paint from nature’.

In 1857 Emile exhibited two works at the Paris Salon and it was at this time that he decided to further his studies and enrolled in the agricultural schools in Villeneuve-L’Etang and Grignon. He traveled throughout the country in search of subject matter but favored the landscape and cattle of the Normandy area – which would become the inspiration for many of his works.  He eventually bought a farmhouse in Boutencourt where he set up his studio; however, like many successful artists of the period, he also kept a studio in Paris where he lived and worked during the winter months.

Emile and his wife had two children: Marie Dieterle (1856 – 1935) who, like her father, became a successful landscape and cattle painter and Jean van Marcke de Lummen (1875 – 1918), who became an accomplished equestrian artist.


Throughout his lifetime Emile’s works were highly sought after and collectors in the United States purchased a great deal of his art.  In February of 1870, through the art agent George Lucas, John Taylor Johnston, who was the President of the New Jersey Central Railroad and the first President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, visited van Marcke in his Paris studio and acquired his Salon painting of that year for 8000ff. In 1872 William T. Walter, through Lucas, acquired van Marckes’
Troupeau de Vaches Passant un Gué for 12,000ff. In July of 1876, Samuel P. Avery commissioned a large oil from the artist for 8000ff which was to be started after the Salon of 1877; in March of that year Avery ordered an additional 3 works.  In June of 1879 William H. Vanderbilt authorized Lucas to purchase van Marcke’s Salon painting for 25,000ff; later that year Vanderbilt acquired another, smaller work, for 10,000ff.

Emile continued to paint in the French countryside until his death in 1890. His obituary appeared in
The Magazine of Art in February of 1891and read as follows:

In M. Emile v[a]n Marcke de [L]ummen, France has lost one of the most distinguished of her animal painters.  Born at Sèvres in 1827, he was a pupil of Troyon, to whom, as to Corot, he owed a conspicuous debt.  He was an indefatigable worker, and since 1857 the Salon has never been without a specimen of his skill.  He received the customary honours and decorations.  He was awarded medals in 1867, 1869 and 1870, and was appointed Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1872.  At the Universal Exhibition of 1878 he received a medal of the first class.

Today his works are house in many public and private collections and three wonderful examples –
The Approach of a Storm (Troupeau de Vaches Passant un Gué), Early Morning, and The Pool - can be seen in the collection of the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, MD.

 
INDEX - A VISUAL HISTORY > <
Virtual Exhibition Index next prev
AIRY, ANNA (1882 - 1964)The Little Mirror
BARBER, CHARLES BURTON (1845 - 1894)Off to School
BOLOTOWSKY, ILYA (1907 - 1981)Abstract
BONHEUR, AUGUSTE (1824 - 1884)Ploughing in the Nivernais
BONHEUR, ROSA (1822 - 1899)Couching Lion
BOUDIN, EUGENE LOUIS (1824 - 1898)La bassin, Deauville
BOUGUEREAU, WILLIAM A. (1825 - 1905)La Frileuse
BOUGUEREAU, WILLIAM A. (1825 - 1905)Marchande de grenades (Pomegranate Seller)
CHAIGNEAU, JEAN F. (1830 - 1906)Le Jardin de l'Artiste
CHOULTSE, IVAN F. (b.1877)Nuit de Mars, Russie
CLAYS, PAUL JEAN (1819 - 1900)Shipping on the Scheldt
COALE, GRIFFITH BAILEY (1890 - 1950)The Baltimore Flower Mart - 1915
COROT, JEAN-BAPTISTE-CAMILLE (1796 - 1875)Pâturage dans les marais (Souvenir des environs d'Amiens)
CORTÈS, EDOUARD LEON (1882 - 1969)The Breton Family
DAWSON, MONTAGUE (1895 - 1973)The Pirate's Cove, Wafer Bay, Cocos Island
DIÉTERLE, MARIE (1856 - 1935)Troupeau dans un chemin creux
DRUMMOND, ARTHUR (1871 - 1951)Victorian Fantasy
DUPRÉ, JULES (1811 - 1889)Environs de Plymouth
DUPRÉ, JULIEN (1851 - 1910)La rentrée au village
DUPRE, JULIEN (1851 - 1910)La Prairie
DUPRE, JULIEN (1851 - 1910)Glaneuses
ELSLEY, ARTHUR J. (1860 - 1952)Good Night
FISHER, R.A., WILLIAM MARK (1841-1923)In the Garden
FRERE, CHARLES THEODORE (1814 - 1888)A Caravan Crossing the Desert
GIRARDET, EUGENE ALEXIS (1853 - 1907)Outside the Mosque
GIRARDET, EUGENE ALEXIS (1853 - 1907)The Wailing Wall
HERBO, LEON (1850 - 1907)La Charmeuse
ISRAELS, ISAAC (1865 - 1934)Dancing at the Moulin de la Galette
JOUBERT, LEON (fl.1883 - 1900)Un Coin de Seine a Lavacourt
KNIGHT, DANIEL RIDGWAY (1839 - 1924)A Pensive Moment
KNIGHT, DANIEL RIDGWAY (1839 - 1924)En Vendanges
LUNY, THOMAS (1759 - 1837)Engagement Between Sir George Brydges Rodney and the Spanish Squadron, Commanded by Don Juan de Langara, Near Cape St. Vincent, January 16, 1780
MARCKE DE LUMMEN, EMILE VAN (1827 - 1890)Vaches a Pâture
MOREAU, ADRIEN (1843-1906)Une Mascarade au XVII Siecle
MOSTYN, TOM (1864 - 1930)Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May
MUNIER, EMILE (1840 - 1895)La retour du marché
MUNIER, EMILE (1840 - 1895)May I Have One Too
PERRAULT, LEON J.B. (1832 - 1908)Away From Home
PERRAULT, LEON J.B. (1832 - 1908)Sleeping Putto
PERUGINI , CHARLES EDWARD (1839-1918)The Green Lizard
RIGOLOT, ALBERT GABRIEL (1862 - 1932)Soleil Levant dans la Brume
ROSSI, ALEXANDER MARK (FL.1870 - 1903)Forbidden Books
ROSSI, ALEXANDER MARK (FL.1870 - 1903) May I Have This Dance?
SALMON, ROBERT (1775 - c.1845) The Estridge off Dover
SCHIELE, EGON (1890 - 1918)Semi-nude with Green Stockings from the Back
SCHRYVER, LOUIS MARIE DE (1862 - 1942)A Young Man's Fancy
SCHRYVER, LOUIS MARIE DE (1862 - 1942)Après l’averse; - place du Théâtre-Français
SEIGNAC, GUILLAUME (1870 - 1924)Reflections
SISLEY, ALFRED (1839 - 1899)La Seine à Suresnes
TOPHAM, FRANCIS W.W. (1838 - 1924)Young Girl on a Swing
WARDLE, ARTHUR (1864 – 1949)The Deer-Stealer
WILLIAMS, EDWARD CHARLES (1807 - 1881)The Old Roadside Inn