Verheyen Alfons

Alfons (Petrus Alfons) Verheyen was a Belgian artist, born in Antwerp in 1903 and died in Brussels in 1990. He was a painter, restorer and designer of sets. He was educated at the Academy and at the Higher Institute in Antwerp. He was a student of Is. Opsomer and A. Ciamberlani, with whom he collaborated on decorative panels for the Law Courts in Leuven and Brussels and for the town hall in Saint-Gilles. In order to perfect himself, he started making copies after old masters in Antwerp, Brussels, Florence, Leningrad and Rome. He painted about 185 portraits, 1500 landscapes, cityscapes, marines and dune views. He also painted flowers, still lifes, interiors and religious compositions. He found inspiration for his landscapes in Italy, Spain and Denmark. He worked as a designer of stage sets, mosaics, copyist and restorer of old works. In 1938 he became a teacher at the Academy in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean. One of his students was A. Peeters, among others. Alfons Verheyen is mentioned in Two centuries of signatures of Belgian artists. (Piron, BT)