Mellery, Xavier |
| PAINTER (BELGIUM) |
|
BORN 9 Aug 1845, Brussel: Laken - DIED 4 Feb 1921, Brussel: Laken GRAVE LOCATION Brussel: Begraafplaats Laken (Perk 09D, weg 12, concessie B100 ) |
|
Xavier Mellory's father was a gardener at the Royal Palace at Laeken, Brussels. He studied with Charles Albert (1821-1889) before he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels (1860-1867). In 1870 he won de Prix de Rome and in Rome he studied the Renaissance painters and he met the sculptor Paul De Vigne, whose portrait he painted. Invited by Charles de Coster he travelled to Marken in the Netherlands in 1878 to illustrate an article on Holland for "Tour du Monde". De Coster died before he returned, but this visit was important for the development of his sober realistic style and he often returned to Marken, regarding it a 'lost paradise'. In 1887 he travelled to Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Mellery exhibited at Péladan's Salon de la Rose-Croix and at Les XX. He was a founding member of the Pour l'Art group (1892). A series of works named "L'âme des choses" gave him a place in the symbolist movement. His work was an influence to Fernand Khnopff, who was his student at the Academy in Brussels. Related persons • worked for Coster, Charles de • was teacher of Khnopff, Fernand |
| Images | ||
 The grave of Xavier Mellery at the Cimetière de Laecken, Brussels. Picture by Androom (28 Apr 2007) |
 "Mon vestibule, effet de lampe". (c.1889, [Private collection]) |
 "L'Art touche au ciel et à la terre". (c1901, [Collection Anne-Marie Gillion Crowet]) |
Sources • Bénézit, E. [Red.], Dictionaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et, Graveurs, Librairie Gründ, Paris, 1976 |
