Franz or Frans Courtens (whose real name was Franciscus Maria Eduardus Courtens) is a Belgian painter Born in Dendermonde on February 4,1854. At a very young age, he joined the Academy of Fine Arts in Dendermonde. He studied under artists such as Isidore Meyers and Frans Vinck.
Courtens moved to Brussels in 1874 where he started painting outdoors. He is most known for his landscape, marine scenes, and animal paintings using bright palette and playing with atmospheric changes.
Courtens taught at the Higher Institute of the Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in 1903 and became a member of the Royal Academy of Belgium in 1904. Critics regarded him as the spearhead of Impressionism and called him the Rubens of landscape painting. He painting regularly in the park of Laeken. In 1922, he was invited by the Royal Family and was knighted by King Albert I.
Franz Courtens was the father of painter Hermann Courtens, the sculptor Alfred Courtens, and the grandfather of Peter Courtens and Jacques Courtens. A street in Dendemonde is named after the Courtens for their contribution to art.
Franz Courtens died on January 2, 1943 in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, outside of Brussels. This piece was exhibited in the Palace of Beaux-Arts in Brussels.
Source: Artfinding