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O n the occasion of 175 years after her birth, the Mu.Zee of Ostend is devo- ting a magnificent exhibition to Anna Boch (1848-1936), artist patron and Belgian philanthropist.
The only woman linked to Impressionism in her country, she is often compared to Mary Cassat in the United States and Berthe Morisot in France.
Coming from a wealthy family, owner of the Manufacture Boch Frères Keramis in La Louvière and member of the Villeroy & Boch company, she is the elder sister of the famous painter Eugène Boch, who introduced her to his friends Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Emile Bernard. A progressive and independent woman, she owned her own car and often traveled alone.
First trained in music, she was forced to give up her art towards the end of her life because of her deafness.
Passionate about painting, she was a pupil of Isidore Verheyden and was supported by her artist friends whom she liked to help financially.
Prolific with almost a thousand paintings, she first dedicated herself to landscapes with the techniques dear to Impressionism and Pointillism, representing the Breton and Belgian coasts around Ostend as well as still lifes. It was after the war that she came to portraits.
Portrait photo of Anna Boch at easel. Private collection, Binche. Photo by Vincent Everarts