Rue Engeland, Uccle

Spending the majority of his artistic career living abroad, Joseph Raphael broke from the traditional American style of Impressionsim and forged a new path, pushing Impressionism into bold Modernism. His unique approach to painting began in San Francisco at the end of the nineteenth century under the tutelage of the California Arts and Crafts master, Arthur Mathews. After his early studies in California, Raphael traveled to Paris to further his education, and then continued on to Laren, an artist colony outside Brussels in 1903. His proximity and exposure to the great nineteenth century Dutch and French masters, including Georges Seurat, Paul Signac and most probably Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cezanne, inspired him to mix Impressionism with Pointilism. A free spirit open to experimentation, Raphael combined these elements to create a unique version of Post-Impressionism as evidenced in Rue Engeland, Uccle.

An exceptionally modern work, Raphael infuses bold impasto with a vibrant palette to create the abstract quality of the composition. Painted on the street of his home in Uccle, Belgium, Raphael captures a series of trees set against a geometric patterning of colorful rooftops. The powerful composition juxtaposes line and planes of color to create the lush and vivid scene of a rural spring landscape.