The Beggar, By Jozef Schakewitz, 19th Century Belgian School

Amazing little oil on panel, representing an old man begging in front of a restaurant. Jozef Schakewitz, of Polish origin (1848-1913) obtained an honorable mention at the Belgian Prix de Rome, awarded by the Antwerp Academy. He made a career painting the shores of the North Sea. Here, probably intrigued and attracted by the appearance of the man, he creates an atmosphere far from the usual conventions. The sobriety of the composition, the small advertising panels, for rent, restaurant on colored flat tints, create an atypical atmosphere, closer to what we will do fifty years later, in a dreamlike vein. The choice of a frame that is too rich (from a good supplier in Antwerp) creates a gap between the misery of the characters and this overly rich gold. The painter chose a very beautiful walnut panel from the paint merchant, and his signature is atypical, almost a rebus. Everything suggests that this painting had a particular value for the painter, but the explanation eludes us....