Joseph Pauwels (1819-1876): Portrait of a member of a masonic lodge, oil on canvas, dated (18)55

Work: 94,5 x 77,5 cm

Frame: 108,5 x 89,5 cm

The reverse with an old (exhibition) label and a reference to a new varnish in 1979.

In the third quarter of the 19th C., Joseph Pauwels was a frequently asked portraitist in freemason circles. He painted, among other things, a portrait of Edmond Delecroix, one of the founders (1866) and 'Achtbare Meesters' of the progressive Ghent freemason lodge 'La Liberté'. Our canvas shows a member of the Antwerp and also socially committed Freemason lodge 'Les Amis du Commerce et la Persévérance Réunis'. It used to belong to the collection of the liberal Ghent notary Louis Heyse (Brabantdam 65, 9000 Ghent). (René Vermeir & Jeffrey Tyssens, Vrijmetselarij en vooruitgang: de Gentse progressistenloge La Liberté (1866-1966), Brussels, 2016, pp. 165, 178)