Right from the start, Jean Colin’s work met with appreciation. As was mentioned earlier, he received several honourable mentions and a first prize while he was still a student at the drawing school. At the beginning of his period at the Académie, the result of his course ‘Moulding from the antique torso’ by Dillens and Van der Stappen 3 was awarded the ‘Great Prize for Sculpture’. Next, he won the ‘Great Prize for Landscape Painting’ in 1906 – during his second year at the Académie – for his impressionistic rendering of Parc Josaphat, an esplanade garden in the Brussels municipality of Schaerbeek (#106). A year later, Colin received an honourable mention from Concours Godecharle [Godecharle Prize]7 for his painting entitled L’Eté [Summer], #109. In 1910, at the age of twenty- nine, he received the ‘Medal for Painting’ at the Brussels World Fair for one of his nudes and the Belgian ‘Prix de Rome for painting’ for his version of L’Adoration des Bergers [The adoration of the shepherds] (#110). 3 Pierre Charles Van der Stappen, or ‘Vanderstappen’ according to the register of births, deaths and marriages, was a Belgian sculptor, who mainly became well-known for his monumental sculptures for public spaces: for example, for the Jubelpark and the Kruidtuin in Brussels and the Belgian National Botanical Gardens in Meise. Julien, or ‘Juliaan’, Dillens (1849-1904) was also a Belgian sculptor and painter, aquarellist and medallist, who had studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts [Royal Academy of Fine Arts] in Brussels himself. From 1870 to 1873, Dillens worked for the renowned French sculptor Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824-1887) on works commissioned by the Brussels Stock Exchange, where he met Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). In 1877, Dillens received the Prix de Rome (Belgium) for sculpture and subsequently carried out numerous orders for public statues. Throughout his career, Jean Colin was lauded by art critics both at home and abroad – and even praised to the skies – for his painting. A random selection from original publications: ‘The nudes, the flowers and the decorative compositions he paints at the beginning of our postwar period, at once classify him among the old Flemish grandmasters. (…) In his new canvases, the joy of living sings and vibrates. Young Colin confirms himself as an indisputable master.’ (Beauté, art magazine, Edouard Fonteyne, March 1922) ‘His art tends towards a great subtlety of tones, detached from mannerism and childish- ness. It is delicate and harmonious, quietly brilliant, spiritual without shrewdness, wise without any tricks and therefore flowing in style in a natural way. (…) Jean Colin is a painter who creates pleasing symphonies with animated rockets and a splattering firework of colour. (…) When Jean Colin paints a child’s portrait, he succeeds in giving that young life a permanent glow, a modest strength, an almost vegetal freshness and the peace and quiet that such an incomplete development can induce.’ (Gand Artistique, art magazine, Maurice Haloche, November 1923) ‘He delivers what he sees, he translates matter; he provides commentary and inspires it with beauty and magnificence.’ (Galeries du Studio, exhibition catalogue with a foreword by Arthur De Ridder, November 1928) ‘Each of his nudes is a poem, dedicated to feminine grace. These portraits display great sensitivity and tenderness: in the elegance of a gesture or in the stillness of an expression.’ (Le Soir Illustré, magazine, 17 January 1931) Apart from his regular participation in exhibitions of local art societies, Jean Colin was soon selected for the national salons and other exclusive exhibitions, where his work was often displayed. He joined the ranks of contemporary Belgian grandmasters such as James Ensor, Léon Spilliaert (1881-1946), Emile Claus (1849-1924), Rik Wouters (1882-1916) and Léon De Smet (1881-1966). Such commercial salons, in which one could only participate by invitation, were indispensible for an artist to earn his livelihood. After all, there were few other opportunities to bring the work to the attention of potential buyers, as an extensive network of galleries and art dealers did not yet exist. Jean Colin was also a welcome guest at prestigious international exhibitions of contemporary Belgian art, with countries such as the Netherlands (1925), Siam (present-day Thailand, 1926), France (1927 and 1928), Poland (1928), Latvia (1932), China (1934), Lithuania (1936), Estonia (1938) and Brazil (1946). Thus, Isy Brachot (1884-1960), a leading Belgian art critic and general editor of the art magazine L’Art Belge, organised an exhibition at the Galerie Mignon-Massart in Nantes (France) in 1928: Une sélection d’oeuvres des très réputés peintres belges [A selection of works by prominent Belgian painters]. Isy Brachot was the first in an important dynasty of gallery owners. In Brussels, he had established a commercial gallery for French artists, but he also promoted the international recognition of great names in Belgian painting at his own Brussels Galeries du Studio and elsewhere. For his prestigious Salon de l’Art belge in Nantes, Brachot had invited only four artists to exhibit their work: Camille Barthélémy 4 , Alfred Bastien 5 , Jean Colin and Jean Gouweloos 6 . 4 Camille Barthélémy (1890-1961), Belgian neoimpressionist graphic artist, painter and illustrator, well-known for his Ardennes landscapes. 5 Alfred Bastien (1873-1955), Belgian postimpressionist painter and aquarellist of portraits, still lifes and land- scapes. In 1893, he was a founding member of the artists’ association Le Sillon, which Jean Colin was to join later. In 1897, Bastien was awarded the Godecharle Prize. 6 Jean Gouweloos (1868-1943), Brussels painter of figures, nudes, seascapes and landscapes and also a poster lithographer. Gouweloos joined Le Sillon in 1895. Throughout Jean Colin’s career, the major part of his work was very much appreciated. Consequently, it sold at very high prices, certainly compared to paintings by a number of his contemporaries and fellow exhibitors. Of course, we cannot compare apples and oranges; we must also take into account quality, technical realization, subject matter, size and fashionable aspects. Nevertheless, Colin’s canvases often sold at remarkably high prices. For instance, in one copy of the 1931 catalogue of the Cercle Artistique de Tournai [Tournai Art Society], selling prices for the exhibited works were added in manuscript: for catalogue number 28, Les deux Artistes [The two artists], a price of 26,000 francs (the Belgian currency at the time) is mentioned, for number 29, Jeunesse et vieillesse [Youth and old age] 10,000 francs, and for number 30, Deux Compatriotes [Two friends] also 10,000 francs. During the same exhibition, Anna Boch 7 , whose work has since been greatly revalued, presented two paintings at ‘only’ 2,000 and 1,000 francs. This was one of the many commercial group exhibitions of which we have recovered the price lists, in which Colin’s works were by far the most expensive. 7 Anna Boch, Belgian impressionist painter of landscapes and still lifes. At first, she took private lessons from Isidore Verheyden, after which they continued to work together for many years. By using striking light effects, she became a true luminist during her later career. Elisabeth 8 also admired Colin’s oeuvre. She regularly visited his solo exhibitions and the group exhibitions in which he took part. During the Belgian Art exhibition in Bangkok in 1926, King Rama VII of what was then still called Siam, bought two works of art, including a ‘Still life with flowers’ by Jean Colin. 8 Elisabeth (1876-1965), consort of Albert I, King of Belgium from 1909 to 1934. It is generally known that Her Majesty took a sound interest in everything connected with art and culture and even in old age remained active in many of these fields. A number of national museums acquired oil paintings by Colin: the Museums for Fine Arts in Liège (#035), Ghent (#036), Charleroi, Tournai and the Charlier Museum in Brussels. The art collection of the Belgian House of Representatives was also enriched with Colin’s work, as were the public collections of the town halls in Dinant, Anderlecht (#108), Auderghem, Laeken and Schaerbeek. In other countries, Colin’s oeuvre is represented at the Belgian Embassy in Moscow by the canvas Place de la Bourse, Brussels’ Bourse Square. The Latvian National Museum of Art in Riga acquired the oil painting Jeune Femme au griffon [Young lady with a griffon, #033], depicting Colin’s favourite model with a Brussels griffon, a small breed of dog of Belgian origin. The Museum of Fine Arts in Tallinn (Estonia) also bought one of Colin’s works, but unfortunately this has not survived. It was an oil painting entitled Jeunesse et vieillesse [Youth and old age], which, along with the major part of its collection, was destroyed during the 1944 bombardments, during which the museum caught fire (source: Mrs Kersti Kuldna, archivist of the Museum of Fine Arts in Tallinn). We have no image of this work at our disposal, nor did the Tallinn museum’s archives survive the fire at the time. Maybe this refers to the canvas Jeunesse et vieillesse that Colin offered for sale for 10,000 francs during the Tournai Art Society exhibition in 1931, but as he frequently used the same general title for different canvases, this is impossible to ascertain. Furthermore, we can mention that in 1920 Jean Colin was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Couronne [Knight in the Order of the Crown (Belgium)] for important services in the field of the arts, while in 1930 he became a Chevalier de l’Ordre de Léopold II [Knight in the Order of Leopold II (King of Belgium)]. In 1932 he was made an Officier de l’Ordre de Lettonie [Officer in the Order of Latvia] and in 1948 an Officier de l’Ordre de la Couronne [Officer in the Order of the Crown (Belgium)]. In 1942, a Brussels street was named after him. During their session of 19 June 1942, the Auderghem Bench of Burgomaster and Aldermen decided – while the Second World War was raging – to name a new public road Avenue Jean Colin. Copyright © Marc Pairon: Impressionism :Hidden Masterpieces of Jean Colin