Jos Dufour (1896-1976) - Winter

Beautiful winter landscape by Jos Dufour

Jos Dufour was a Belgian artist, born in Leuven in 1896 and died in Leuven in 1976. He was a painter and pastellist. He studied at the Academy in Leuven, under E. Faut, J. Hodru, L. Bosmans and O. Dierckx (1912-1916). From 1920 to 1933 he was a pupil of A. Delaunois. Here he also engaged in metalwork. He bent copper and iron with great skill into very expressive faces: a clown, a blind man, a mask. After World War II he lived for some time in Sint-Martens-Latem and there came into contact with Permeke, De Saedeleer and Saverys. He was influenced by his sense of the mystical and initially also subjected to influences of Flemish Expressionism. He debuted with (winter) landscapes, but also painted portraits, still lifes, harbor and seascapes. He preferred a low horizon line in order to optimally convey the grandeur and restlessness of the cloud fields. From the press: ‘His winter landscapes in themselves are desolate. A scarce tree or a bare bush in the foreground. People, as far as they appear in his works, are only tiny and fragile beings, exposed to the forces of nature. It is especially the enchantment of the sometimes incoming light that differentiates these often related subjects.’ Jos Dufour evolved from about the 1960s toward surrealism and fantasy. In 1965 he became a member of the International Center for Fantasmagoria. Hallucinatory images arose from his subconscious or imagination and stacks of terrifying beings or motifs in screaming colors. In 1965 he won a silver medal at the International Painting Competition in Villers-la-Ville. He had an atelier in Heverlee. He is listed in BAS I and Two Centuries of Signatures of Belgian Artists. (Piron)