Portrait of Eugene Boch
Appreciation
Portrait of Eugene Boch Nederland Vincent van Gogh Gallery and Appreciation
Eug猫ne Boch (1855鈥?941) was a Belgian painter,[28] born in Saint-Vaast, Hainaut, who was the younger brother of Anna Boch, a founding member of Les XX. Born into a wealthy dynasty of manufacturers of fine china and ceramics, still active today under the firm of Villeroy & Boch, Eug猫ne Boch enrolled in the private atelier of L茅on Bonnat in Paris, in 1879. Since 1882, when Bonnat closed his atelier, he studied at the atelier of Fernand Cormon. Paintings of him were admitted to the Salon in 1882, 1883 and 1885. In June 1888, he was introduced by Dodge MacKnight to Vincent van Gogh.
The portrait was executed in the first days of September 1888, a few days before Boch's departure. In the first version of Van Gogh's Bedroom, executed in October 1888, this portrait is shown hanging to the left of the portrait of Paul-Eug猫ne Milliet. Arranged this way, both portraits may have formed part of the D茅coration for the Yellow House.
When Eug猫ne Boch died in 1941, he bequested The Poet (that is Van Gogh's title for his portrait of Eug猫ne Boch, which Boch received from Johanna van Gogh-Bonger as a present in July 1891) to the Louvre.