Fernand TOUSSAINT (1873-1956), Vase with flowers and fruit bowl

Fernand Toussaint was born in a family of upper-middle class. When his parents discovered his talent in drawing they helped him to develop it in full. He began studying art with Jean-François Portaels and at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts at the age of 15. When he was eighteen, he left for Paris to continue his studies under the well-known Belgian portraitist Alfred Stevens.

He specialised in painting portraits of women, still lifes and city-scapes, in the Impressionist, Art nouveau, and Post-Impressionist styles. He is also a famed artist to depict interiors, coastal views and seascapes. He was much influenced by painters of his epoque such as Constant Permeke and Adrien le Mayeur de Merprès.