Hubert Bellis artwork • painting • previously for sale A still life with a fish head and cleaver

Hubert Bellis was a well-known Belgian still life painter of mainly realistic and beautifully elaborated still lifes and flowers. Bellis was educated at the academy of Brussels. Together with his brother Charles-Louis, he opened a shop for decorative painting in 1857 and later a painting school, L'Effort. Famous names such as Louis Thevenet and Rik Wouters studied there. He was also a member of the Brussels bohemian artists' association La Chrysalide. In 1883 he undertook a study trip to Amsterdam with Guillaume Vogels and Ensor, both involved in the creation of Les XX that year. The still lifes were praised, in which he concentrates on a few shells, some apples, a salmon head or a piece of meat, so that the familiar surroundings are missing and 'naked' matter unexpectedly appears.