By the Fire – Devant le Feu

Charles Michel was born in 1874 in Liège. He was a Belgian painter, watercolourist, illustrator and poster designer whose career bridged Europe and Latin America.

He began his artistic training at the Académie royale des beaux-arts in Liège. At the age of seventeen, he moved to Paris, where he continued his studies at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts under the guidance of the renowned academic masters Benjamin-Constant and Jean-Léon Gérôme. During this formative period, he developed a solid academic foundation and specialised in portraits, landscapes and figure compositions.

Michel was a member of the Brussels artistic circle Pour L’Art, an association that promoted progressive tendencies in Belgian art at the turn of the century. In addition to his painting practice, he was active as an illustrator and designer. He created posters and several postcards, and illustrated the book Tournoi de Chevalerie, published in 1905 on the occasion of the festivities celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Kingdom of Belgium.

His reputation led to his appointment as court painter to the Belgian Royal Family. In 1894, he exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, confirming his early international recognition.

In the 1920s, Michel’s career took an important turn toward Mexico. In 1922, he became director of the first exhibition of modern art in Mexico, held at the former museum of San Carlos (today the Museo Nacional de San Carlos). His involvement marked a significant cultural exchange between European and Mexican artistic circles.

During the 1930s and 1940s, he resided on the Grand Place in Brussels. In 1946, he settled permanently in Mexico, where he continued his artistic activities until his death in 1967. He died in Mexico in 1967.

His oeuvre reflects a refined academic training enriched by international influences and, in later years, reveals affinities with Post-Impressionist sensibilities. His cross-continental career was revisited in the exhibition Charles Michel: post impresionista belga en México, held in 2016 at the Museo Nacional de San Carlos in Mexico.

Today, works by Charles Michel are preserved in public and private collections, including museums in Liège and Ixelles in Belgium, as well as in the Museo Nacional de San Carlos in Mexico City.