Landscape with Shepherds and Animals by the Water

Louis-Pierre Verwee (also spelled Verwée) was born on March 19, 1807, in Kortrijk, Belgium, and died in Brussels in November 1877. He is widely regarded as the leading representative of the Romantic school in Belgian landscape painting, particularly known for his evocative winter scenes and rural landscapes with cattle.

Verwee left school at an early age to pursue his passion for art. He enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kortrijk, where he studied under Jan Baptiste de Jonghe, a prominent landscape and animal painter. He later continued his artistic training with Eugène Verboeckhoven in Ghent, who would not only become his mentor but also a lifelong friend and collaborator. The two artists often worked side by side, and Verboeckhoven occasionally painted the figures and animals in Verwee’s landscapes, to such a degree that their early works are sometimes difficult to distinguish.

Verwee followed Verboeckhoven to Brussels and established himself as a successful landscape and animal painter. His preferred subjects were winter and summer scenes, typically populated with figures and animals. His style, particularly in his early work, was closely aligned with that of Verboeckhoven. Over time, he became known for landscapes that reflected the romantic tradition, with compositions echoing the work of Andreas Schelfhout, Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, Frans Keelhoff, and Johann Bernard Klombeck. His depictions of forests and rivers often employed a dreamy, atmospheric quality that captured the mood and light of nature.

In his later career, Verwee sought artistic innovation but found himself increasingly focused on variations of winter landscapes after 1837. These scenes, popularized by Koekkoek and Schelfhout, were characterized by low-hanging snow clouds, icy waterways, and a cool palette of light blue and metallic grey, creating a moody and intimate ambiance. Occasionally, other artists such as Florent Willems contributed figures to his compositions.

Throughout his career, Verwee exhibited in Bruges, Ghent, Courtrai, Brussels, and Paris, enjoying both critical and commercial success. He traveled extensively through France, Germany, and the Netherlands, and spent 1867–1868 in London, where he was in contact with artists such as Constant Troyon and Gustave Courbet.

Verwee married Claire van der Smissen, and together they had three sons and a daughter. Two of his sons, Alfred Verwee and Louis-Charles Verwee, followed in his footsteps to become painters—Alfred gaining international renown as an animal painter, while Louis-Charles became known for his genre and portrait work.

In addition to his oil paintings, Louis-Pierre Verwee produced a number of lithographs based on works by Verboeckhoven.

His artworks can be found in both private and public collections, including the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Brussels), the Municipal Museum of Ypres, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, the Museum of Antiquities and Decorative and Fine Arts in Kortrijk, and the John Selbach Museum in Maaseik, which owns a landscape featuring animals painted by Verboeckhoven.