Rysselberghe, Théo Van

Théo Van Rysselberghe, in full Théophile Van Rysselberghe, (born Nov. 23, 1862, Ghent, Belg.—died Dec. 13, 1926, Saint-Clair, Manche, France), Belgian painter, sculptor, and designer who, together with Henry van de Velde, headed the large rank of Belgian artists that adhered to Neo-Impressionism.

Van Rysselberghe studied in Ghent and Brussels, and he was among the founders of both the Twenty (Les XX) and the Free Aesthetics (La Libre Esthétique), the two major associations of Belgian artists at the turn of the 20th century. He was influenced by the work of Georges Seurat—particularly his Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte (1884–86), which he saw in 1886. Van Rysselberghe’s was a Neo-Impressionism of strictly objective foundations, characterized by a faithful reconstruction in terms of light and optics of the environmental reality (as in La Pointe Perkiridec Near Roscoff in Brittany, 1889). Perhaps his greatest contribution to the style was a series of portraits (such as Madame Charles Maus, 1890) and group portraits in interior as well as outdoor settings (Family in the Orchard, 1890), unique among the Neo-Impressionists. These he painted in accordance with a Symbolist and pantheistic iconography embraced by the nascent Art Nouveau movement.

During the final decade of the 19th century, Van Rysselberghe increasingly devoted his time and energies to work in the decorative arts and graphics. After the turn of the century, the artist’s style evolved away from pointillism, which he eventually gave up.