Rene Barbaix

Rene Barbaix was born in Anderlecht, close to Brussels, in 1909 and showed early promise in the arts. At the age of twelve he attended the Ecole Industrielle in Schaerbeek to study design where he would remain for seven years. In 1928 he continued his studies by attending evening classes at the Academie de Saint-Josse-ten-Node where he concentrated on painting. His art education was completed by 1937 and he soon after established a studio in Brussels to begin painting in earnest. Initially his compositions where abstract forms but after World War II he developed into a figural painter. By 1944 he was exhibiting his work with his avant-garde contemporaries at the Exposition ‘Apport’. In July of 1945 he, together with a number of his friends including Anne Bonnet, Rik Slabbinck and Gaston Bertrand, founded the group known as ‘La Jeune Peinture Belge’ which would revolutionize Belgian painting. Within a few months the initial group of artists was joined by several others including Jean Milo, Pol Bury and Pierre Alechinsky all eager to be a part of this exciting venture. The Jeune Peinture Belge would only last as a group for barely three years but their influence was profound.