23. Louis Thevenet
Louis Thevenet was born in Bruges, but when his father became an organist, the family moved to Brussels. A love of music was instilled in him at an early age. He played the cello, started working at a music publishing house and numerous instruments later appeared in his work. After the premature death of his parents, Thevenet took jobs here and there and came into contact with several painters. He never had an academic education, but took classes at L'Effort, Hubert Bellis' studio.
From 1896, Thevenet resolutely opted to create his own style. He focused on his immediate surroundings and the things he observed. In full daylight, he realistically painted things as they were. Not dreamy or for their associations and meanings. His use of colour was celebratory and direct. An apple is red; the berries are green; the bottle is blue, etc. Against those colours he applied bright white and deep black, and Thevenet further enhanced his image with a measured construction.
Let's focus for a moment on the work After Mass. The lady of the house has returned from mass. Her things are lying on the table: gloves, a prayer book and an umbrella. The baby stares out at you, almost like an adult, with a piercing gaze. Together with three dark pictorial elements, they circle a teapot reflecting a coffee cup and a person. The painter or an onlooker? Thevenet pushes symmetry to the extreme. Not only do both top corners keep each other in balance, even the colours are repeated: the flowers on the hat in the red apples, the green cabinet in the door frame.
In this composition of things Thevenet recounts what has just happened. He does the same in The Funeral March. The canvas could have been called After the Funeral. The trumpet player's hat and shirt collar and cuffs, along with the obituary, have been casually left on the table after the funeral procession. Here, Thevenet plays with black and white tones even more so than in After Mass. The red apple seems to embrace life.