Sunshine in Winter

Vierin Emmanuel was born on June 30, 1869 in Kortrijk, Belgium. His father Constant Vierin was an artist and art lover, he often took him to museums and exhibitions in Kortrijk. Emmanuel started to paint and draw at the early age. At the age of 15, he left school and became a pupil at the Kortrijk Academy of Fine Arts and continued his further education at the Antwerp Royal Academy with the famed master teacher and landscape painter Joseph Coosemans (1828 – 1904).

Vierin was a realistic painter until the mid 1890s. His style was influenced by his master teacher. He painted in the realism of the Barbizon and Tervuren Schools. Like many young artists of that time, he evolved towards Luminism, an artistic style influenced by French Impressionism. At the end of the 19th century, this style was very much in vogue among Belgian artists. During those years, Emile Claus, with the age difference of 20 years, maintained a cordial relationship with the young painter from Kortrijk. He encouraged him to discover the Flemish coast and to paint landscapes and light.

In 1894, he made a study trip to Algeria (Constantine and Biskra). He stayed there for more than six months.

In 1896, Emmanuel Viérin lived in Kortrijk in a house designed by his younger brother Joseph. In 1910, at the Emmanuel’s request, his brother Joseph drew one of the first villas “Ter Wilgen” in Duinbergen, Meeuwendreef 8 (listed in the architectural patrimony of the Flemish Region).

Attracted by the North Sea, the painter stays at that address in the summer. This allowed him to easily explore the coastal region and paint many works.

In 1914, Emmanuel left Belgium and settled with the family in Zeeland, Netherlands. He spent the entire war period.

The interwar period was a happy one for Emmanuel Viérin. He was surrounded by numerous friends including the writer Stijn Streuvels, the painter Isidoor Opsomers and lived in a new modern villa drawn by his son Pierre. These were the most important years for his oeuvre.

Vierin exhibited in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Liege and Spa (Belgium), Milan (Italy), Barcelona (Spain), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), in Amsterdam, Dordrecht, The Hague, Eindhoven, Groningen, Nijmegen and Rotterdam (The Netherlands). The last exhibition he participated in was in his hometown Kortrijk.

During World War II, his dreamhouse was occupied by the Germans. In 1944, it got destroyed in a bombing by the Allies. A new house on a same place was built after the war.

Vierin died on 13 January 13, 1954, in Kortrijk. Today, his paintings can be found in important private and public collections, including at the Museum of Ixelles, Bruges Groeninge Museum, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Kortrijk Municipal Museum, Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine Arts (Belgium), Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (Spain), La Piscine, Musée d’Art et d’Industrie André Diligent Roubaix (France), Museo d’Arte Moderna Udine (Italy).