In the Classroom

Basile De Loose was Belgian painter known for his genre scenes and portraits. Basile De Loose was born in Zele, East Flanders, on December 17, 1809, and died in Brussels on December 24, 1885. He was the son of Jean Joseph De Loose (1770–1849), a history painter and professor at the Drawing Academy of Sint-Niklaas, and Marie Jacqueline Impyns (1778–1821), a seamstress. He married Marie Natalie De Bondt in Saint-Nicolas on August 4, 1841, and they had three daughters: Emma (1842–1874), Léonie (1843–1889), and Herminie (1848–1928).

De Loose received his earliest artistic training from his father, under whom he studied at the Drawing Academy in Saint-Niklaas. From 1824 onward, he was awarded all the first prizes at the academy. In 1826, a scholarship granted by the academy allowed him to pursue advanced studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where he came under the mentorship of Mathieu-Ignace Van Brée. At just sixteen, De Loose was already exhibiting in Mechelen and at the Ghent Salon in 1826, and later at the Antwerp Salon in 1828. In 1829, he won first prize for genre painting at an exhibition in Groningen, with a touching interior scene of a young man bidding farewell to his parents. He furthered his studies in Paris in 1835.

Upon his return to Belgium, he lived for two years in Sint-Niklaas before settling in Brussels in 1837. He first resided on Rue du Chêne until his marriage in 1841, and then on Rue du Pont-Neuf, where he remained until his death. A prolific exhibitor, De Loose participated in more than forty Belgian triennial salons until 1883. He gained international recognition when King Louis-Philippe of France awarded him a gold medal at the Paris Salon in 1841. The following year, he received a bronze medal at the Brussels Salon for his painting A Music Lesson. He also sent works to five Dutch exhibitions of living masters, and to salons in Germany.

De Loose was deeply committed to his art and remained active at his easel until his final days. He passed away at his home on Rue du Pont-Neuf in Brussels at the age of 76.

His genre scenes and portraits form the core of his oeuvre. Early in his career, he imitated the 17th-century Dutch masters, particularly Gerard ter Borch. His compositions are often intimate, domestic, and narrative, rendered with technical precision and a clear influence of the Flemish tradition. Works such as The Punishment and Ash Wednesdaywere lithographed by Pierre De Vlamynck, and his paintings found buyers across Europe, notably in Turin.

Art critics of the time praised his talent while occasionally noting areas for improvement. In 1836, Louis Alvin, reviewing The Village Wedding exhibited at the Brussels Salon, acknowledged the accuracy and natural expression in his figures, though he found the lighting somewhat harsh. At the Antwerp Salon of 1837, the Belgian newspaper L’Émancipation admired his drawing in Newlyweds at the Market, despite commenting on a lack of color strength and animation. In 1848, critic Louis Van Roy described A School Holiday as cold in color but praised the lively movement and fine rendering of children’s expressions. And in 1878, The Anniversary of the Mother Superior was reviewed by Journal de Bruxelles as a scene painted with thoughtful accuracy, especially in the depiction of the austere monastic interior, despite some weaknesses in the figure drawing.

Today, several of Basile De Loose’s works are held in major European collections. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam owns five of his drawings and prints. The Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin houses Reunion at the Inn (1846) and Dutch Family Scene (1846), while the Museum of Fine Arts in Leipzig holds Lacemaker and Her Child (1858), and the Stettin Museum preserves his Schoolgirls in the Countryside.