Bruges River Scene C1950, 1950s

Nestor Cambier (Belgian 1879-1957) - Bruges River Scene with a Bridge. Oil on Board, signed.

Bruges River Scene C1950

Oil on Board signed at lower right

Nestor Cambier (Belgian 1879-1957)

A superb quality Oil on board by the well listed artist Nestor Cambier (Belgian 1879-1957)

The painting is in excellent condition and is housed in a modern but high quality frame.

Nestor Cambier (1879–1957) was a Belgian artist and draftsman whose portraits were compared favourably with those of John Singer Sargent, he also painted landscapes, city and interior views, still-lives, murals and stained glass, and also produced numerous pencil and chalk drawings.

Early life and training

Cambier was born in Couillet (now part of Charleroi) in Belgium. He studied at the college of Ixelles, Brussels before entering the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, where he studied portraiture under the masters Joseph Stallaert and Gustave Vanaise until 1900. At age 21 he had already exhibited at the Brussels Salon, with a portrait of a young girl and a landscape.

Professional life

In 1903, Cambier exhibited at the Triennial Salon of Beaux Arts at Brussels with pictures of a Brabançon innkeeper, a colourful Bazaar, a large tableau of the Cid and the Leper, and a study in pastels of Salome.[1]

He went to the United States (1906–1909), working first at Ascenzo's studios. He continued to paint portraits and in 1907 exhibited at the Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he won the John Wanamaker prize. He designed large stained glass windows for the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark, New Jersey, while it was under construction. (Recent investigation shows that delays in construction resulted in the 214 stained glass windows not being completed until 1950, by when they had been redesigned by Franz Zettler.

Cambier returned to Belgium in 1909, where he painted further portraits and extended his painting to landscapes. In 1914 he held an exhibition of his works at Blankenberge, Belgium, where he was almost trapped when Germany invaded Belgium at the start of the First World War, and which resulted in the loss of many of his canvasses.

He then spent 19 years intermittently in the United Kingdom (1914–1933), and in 1915 and 1916 he donated some of his works for auction on behalf of the British Red Cross, reaching prices comparable with the best English painters. In 1923 he became a member of the North British Academy of Arts, and became a resident guest of Sir Henry and Lady Barber at Culham Court, near Henley, Oxfordshire. During this time, he painted numerous portraits of Lady Barber (1869–1932), and pictures of the interior of Culham Court and the surrounding countryside.

Additional dimensions information:

19 x 25cm (panel)

Condition : Used
Manufacture Date : 1950s
Materials : Oil Paint