FRANÇOIS JOSEPH NAVEZ

François Joseph Navez was one of the most important Belgian painters active at the beginning of the nineteenth century. He first studied at the Academy of Brussels, and then joined the studio of Jacques-Louis David in Paris in 1813. Navez became very close to David and in 1816 followed him to Brussels when David went into exile. From 1817 to 1821, Navez stayed in Italy. He was passionate about Ingres and the Nazarenes, and his paintings gained in austerity without ever abandoning Davidian naturalism. Back in Brussels, Navez was first known as a painter of genre scenes and portraits, and not as a painter of history, as he aspired. Navez obtained more recognition in the Netherlands and France, and in these countries he received important commissions, in particular for religious paintings. François-Joseph Navez was appointed director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels in 1835, a position he held until 1859.