Ferdinand PAUWELS (1830-1904) - Young Italian woman carrying flowers

Ferdinand Wilhelm PAUWELS (Eekeren, 1830 - Dresden, 1904)

Young Italian woman carrying flowers

Oil on panel
Signed and dated 1862 lower right
47 x 33.5 cm

At the age of twelve, PAUWELS studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp under the direction of Gustave WAPPERS and Nicaise DE KEYSER, where he became an outstanding colorist. In 1852, he won the Prix de Rome (Belgium) for his painting "Coriolan in Rome" and thanks to the scholarship granted he spent four years studying in Italy. On his return, he moved to Dresden and then to Antwerp as an independent artist. From 1862 to 1872, PAUWELS was a professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Weimar, where he trained many artists including Léon POHLE, Max LIBERMANN and Carl RODECK. This period was particularly productive for him. He made seven large wall panels at Wartburg Castle describing the life of LUTHER. After a short return to Belgium, he returned to Germany in 1876 as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden, where he ended his life. His students included Ludwig VON HOFMANN, Osmar SCHINDLER, Paul THUMANN and Oskar ZWINTSCHER. During this period, he also executed six large historical wall panels at the Fürstenschule in Meissen.
From 1870 to 1881, he realized what is considered his greatest work: twelve frescoes in the upper part of the Cloth Hall of Ypres, left unfinished by Charles DE GROUX (1825-1870). There are scenes from the history of Ypres from 1187 to 1383. Unfortunately, these achievements were destroyed during the First World War.
In 1930, Ekeren named a street in his honor and installed a commemorative stone.
PAUWELS was knighted by the Order of Leopold in 1861.

Museums: Brussels, Dresden, Eisenach, Kaliningrad, Leipzig, Meissen, Munich, Washington D.C., Ypres ...