Ignace Brice (2 April 1795–10 August 1866) was a neoclassical painter of genre, portraits and religious scenes from Brussels.

Career

Ignace Brice at first studied under his father, Antoine Brice, and at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, where he was strongly influenced by Jacques-Louis David, then in exile in Brussels – Ignace became known as "le David bruxellois". He followed his father as a professor at the Academy, and exhibited in Brussels in 1815, 1824, 1827, 1830 and 1833. He also exhibited in Ghent, Antwerp and Amsterdam, and was one of the founders of the Société des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles. He was a genre painter and portraitist, and had a great talent for drawing. His style was sober and classical and, besides David's influence, he reminds the viewer of the Port-Royal painters of the 17th century such as Philippe de Champaigne.

Family, marriage and issue

His father Antoine and his paternal grandfather Pierre-François were both painters. Pierre-François was born in the French village of Saint-Venant, but left to settle in Brussels and become a painter at the court of Prince Charles-Alexandre of Lorraine. In Brussels on 25 August 1825, Ignace married Hortense van Dievoet (1804–1854), great-grandniece of the Brussels sculptor Peter van Dievoet and of Philippe van Dievoet, known as Vandive, goldsmith to Louis XIV of France.

Gallery

Works