Edouard Moerenhoutartist • painterAntwerpen 1801-1893

The Antwerp painter Edouard (Joris) Moerenhout was born in the same year (1801) as his Belgian namesake J.J. Moerenhout, a painter of beach scenes and landscapes, often populated with horses. But that is where the comparison ends. Edouard Moerenhout specialized in seascapes, harbor scenes, and river views by moonlight. This was a genre practiced by Romantic painters from the first half of the 19th century onwards, following the example of 17th-century landscape painters such as Aert van der Neer. Apart from a few genre pieces featuring animals, Moerenhout remained faithful to this subject throughout his life. Over the years, his style evolved accordingly, and his work became increasingly looser in brushwork. His nocturnes are characterized by a strong contrast in the cloudy sky, brightly illuminated by a clear, usually full moon, which beautifully reveals the water in the foreground through its reflection.