Printed: 2025-04-07
Misonne, LéonardSend us additional info
Identity
Category
Person (Male)
Status
- Amateur
Details
Life dates
Gilly, 1870 - Gilly, 1943
Activity
1891 * - 1943 + Gilly
° 1.7.1870; + 14.9.1943. A student at the "Université Catholique de Louvain" from 1887-1888 until 1892-1893, he was awarded a degree in mining engineering in 1895. He appears never to have practised that professsion and devoted himself entirely to photography from 1896. From 1896 until 1900, trips to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, to London and Paris (where Constant Puyo would teach him the oil process in 1910). As a figurehead of the pictorialist movement in Belgium, he very soon acquired an international reputation for his atmospheric landscapes, a genre that he was to exploit throughout his life. He practised the bromoil process. Participated in a competition of artistic slides organised in Saint Petersburg [RU] in 1900. One of his photographs was published in "Le sentiment d'art en photographie" (see Liorel) under the pseudonym Helfenstein.
Misonne’s work is characterised by a masterly treatment of light and atmospheric conditions. His images express poetic qualities, but sometimes slip into an anecdotal sentimentality. Still a member of the ABP in 1922. Remained prolifically active as a photographer and exhibitor throughout the interwar period. The "Musée de la Photographie" in Charleroi houses 15 000 glass negatives by Misonne, donated by the non-profit entity "Photographies Léonard Misonne".
° 1.7.1870; + 14.9.1943. A student at the "Université Catholique de Louvain" from 1887-1888 until 1892-1893, he was awarded a degree in mining engineering in 1895. He appears never to have practised that professsion and devoted himself entirely to photography from 1896. From 1896 until 1900, trips to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, to London and Paris (where Constant Puyo would teach him the oil process in 1910). As a figurehead of the pictorialist movement in Belgium, he very soon acquired an international reputation for his atmospheric landscapes, a genre that he was to exploit throughout his life. He practised the bromoil process. Participated in a competition of artistic slides organised in Saint Petersburg [RU] in 1900. One of his photographs was published in "Le sentiment d'art en photographie" (see Liorel) under the pseudonym Helfenstein.
Misonne’s work is characterised by a masterly treatment of light and atmospheric conditions. His images express poetic qualities, but sometimes slip into an anecdotal sentimentality. Still a member of the ABP in 1922. Remained prolifically active as a photographer and exhibitor throughout the interwar period. The "Musée de la Photographie" in Charleroi houses 15 000 glass negatives by Misonne, donated by the non-profit entity "Photographies Léonard Misonne".
Locations
1891 * - 1943 + Gilly
Exhibitions
Berlin, 1896 (silver medal); Brussels, 1896; Hamburg, 1896; Lille, 1896; Louvain, 1896; Courtrai, 1897; Hamburg, 1897 (in ABP collective exhibit); Brussels, 1898; Hamburg, 1898; Munich, 1898; Nancy, 1898; Berlin, 1899; Ghent, 1899; Hamburg, 1899; Leipzig, 1899; Antwerp, 1900 ABP; Mons, 1901; Namur, 1901; Paris, 1901; Brussels, 1902; Paris, 1902; Antwerp, 1903 ABP; Dresden, 1904 (from the Juhl collection); The Hague, 1904; London, 1904 RPS; Louvain, 1904; Paris, 1904; Berlin, 1905; Genoa, 1905 (gold medal, second class); Paris, 1905; Vienna, 1905; Vienna, 1905 CAM; Paris, 1906; London, 1907; Amsterdam, 1908; Brussels, 1908 ABP; Dresden, 1909; London, 1909; London, 1910; Liège, 1911 RET; Ghent, 1913; Liège, 1914.
Bibliography/Webography
Léonard Misonne. Tableaux photographiques. Brussels, (1926), (40) pp. With 29 illustrations.
Léonard Misonne. Vienna, Die Galerie, (1935), unpaginated, ill. With 24 plates (limited to 1,000 copies signed by the artist).
DUVIVIER, Ch. Léonard Misonne. Son oeuvre, sa méthode. Brussels, (1937), (23) pp. with 22 illustrations.
MISONNE, Maurice. Introduction à l'oeuvre photographique de Léonard Misonne. Brussels - Auderghem, 1971, 77 pp. with 26 reproductions of photographs and a facsimile autograph.
SCHWABIK, Marian & MISONNE, Maurice. Léonard Misonne. Ein Fotograf aus Belgien 1870-1943. Seebruck am Chiemsee, 1976, (96) pp.
POLAIN, Dominique. Lumière sur Léonard Misonne Photographe - Paysagiste. Brussels, 1987, 142 pp. (Degree dissertation, Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres, Université Libre de Bruxelles).
DEBANTERLÉ, René, MÉLON, Marc-Emmanuel & POLAIN, Dominique. Autour de Léonard Misonne. Charleroi, 1990, 112 pp.
ANDRIES, Pool & AUQUIER, Yves. La couleur du temps. Photographies de Léonard Misonne, Paris, 1991, 112 pp.
VAUSORT, Marc. "Léonard Misonne et le pictorialisme en Belgique" in La photographie pictorialiste en Europe 1888-1918. Paris & Rennes, 2005, pp. 161-179.
Léonard Misonne. Vienna, Die Galerie, (1935), unpaginated, ill. With 24 plates (limited to 1,000 copies signed by the artist).
DUVIVIER, Ch. Léonard Misonne. Son oeuvre, sa méthode. Brussels, (1937), (23) pp. with 22 illustrations.
MISONNE, Maurice. Introduction à l'oeuvre photographique de Léonard Misonne. Brussels - Auderghem, 1971, 77 pp. with 26 reproductions of photographs and a facsimile autograph.
SCHWABIK, Marian & MISONNE, Maurice. Léonard Misonne. Ein Fotograf aus Belgien 1870-1943. Seebruck am Chiemsee, 1976, (96) pp.
POLAIN, Dominique. Lumière sur Léonard Misonne Photographe - Paysagiste. Brussels, 1987, 142 pp. (Degree dissertation, Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres, Université Libre de Bruxelles).
DEBANTERLÉ, René, MÉLON, Marc-Emmanuel & POLAIN, Dominique. Autour de Léonard Misonne. Charleroi, 1990, 112 pp.
ANDRIES, Pool & AUQUIER, Yves. La couleur du temps. Photographies de Léonard Misonne, Paris, 1991, 112 pp.
VAUSORT, Marc. "Léonard Misonne et le pictorialisme en Belgique" in La photographie pictorialiste en Europe 1888-1918. Paris & Rennes, 2005, pp. 161-179.
Affiliations
Affiliated entity
Management
Record source
DIRECTORY_1997#3098
Dates of creation/revision
SFJ revised 7.9.2017, 14.2.2018, 27.2.2019, 5.3.2019 & 17.4.2019; SFJ revised 24.4.2020 based on information supplied by M. Demaeght; SFJ revised 22.10.2020 & 1.2.2021; SFJ revised 17.4.2021, 6.3.2023, 26.1.2024, 21.7.2024 & 24.3.2025 based on information supplied by M. Demaeght; MD revised 5.5.2023; SFJ revised 16.1.2025 & 30.3.2025