Origin Rodolphe Wytsman was born in
Dendermonde, Belgium. He was the son of Klemens Wytsman ( 1825–1870), an Austrian immigrant who was notary and shipping agent, and Emma-Maria Cockuyt (born in Ghent, c. 1838). In 1886 Wytsman married
Juliette Trullemans (b. Brussels, 1866–d. Elsene, 1925), also a painter. During three decades of marriage they resided in or near Brussels, except during World War I, when they fled to the Netherlands.
Early life Wytsman grew up in a cultured environment. His father was—apart from being a notary—a numismatist, historian and composer. Among his friends were the Flemish composers
François Auguste Gevaert and
Peter Benoit and the French literary figure,
Victor Hugo. Wytsman's father died prematurely on 27 November 1870 when Rodolphe was only nine or ten. Shortly thereafter, Wytsman's mother moved to her hometown of
Dendermonde, 20 miles north of Brussels. In 1873 Wytsman took courses at the academy in Ghent from Jean Capeinick (1838–1890), a Belgian painter who specialized in still lifes and rich, colorful floral arrangements. Capeinick, a true professional, also taught
Théo van Rysselberghe, a Belgian neo-impressionist who was influential at the turn of the century. Wytsman's studies were interrupted by a lucrative job in a yarn shop. After three years, and against the wishes of his mother, he left this tedious occupation and resumed his studies at the academy, studying under and
Julius De Keghel. Wytsman became friends with artists van Rysselberghe, Gustave Vanaise and Armand Heins; the latter remained a lifelong friend. As a painter Wytsman gravitated toward landscapes. His early works—at this time painted near Ghent—were realistic. In the following years he developed a more pre-Impressionist style. By 1881 Wytsman lived in Brussels, where he was influenced by early
Modernist Painting.
Brussels Wytsman's mother moved back to Brussels, where Rodolphe continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts. He studied under
Jean Portaels,
Joseph Stallaert and
Joseph van Severdonck. His fellow students included Eugene Broerman, Francois Halkett,
Frantz Charlet, and van Rysselberghe.
James Ensor and
Guillaume Van Strydonck were also students at that time. At the Brussels Academy, he came into contact with the artists group
L'Essor, founded on 4 March 1876 by some students at the academy. Wytsman's training ended in 1881. By that time he already had exhibited his painting
The Night at the Salon of Ghent.
Early 1880s In 1882, financially supported by a friend of his late father, he visited Italy, including Rome and surrounding areas, and the Neapolitan coast made an indelible impression on him. Works dating from that era include
Fountain in the Villa Borghese in Roma and
Rocks on Capri. In Italy, he had friendly contacts with other Belgian artists then resident there: Gustave Vanaise,
Jef Lambeaux, Leon Philippet, Eugene Broerman and Alexandre Marcet. In May 1883, Wytsman exhibited together with Vanaise at the "Cercle Artistique" in Ghent. From 1883 on, he rusticated annually in
Knokke, a Belgian seaside resort where an influential artists colony gathered each summer. Regulars included landscape painters from Ghent and Brussels—among them
Alfred Verwee,
Willy Schlobach, Théo van Rysselberghe,
Anna Boch,
Félicien Rops, James Ensor,
Willy Finch and the noted Impressionist
Camille Pissarro. Wytsman painted the dunes, the beach, the polders and the
Zwin (now a nature preserve). == Les XX ==