Harmonious use of colour and delicate paintwork in a superb overview of the artist Anna Boch

The versatile Anna Boch (1848-1936) was not only a talented artist, but also a highly knowledgeable collector, generous patron, and enthusiastic traveller with a great love of music and architecture. She was the only woman to become a member of the prominent art societies Les XX and La Libre Esthetique, and she was treated as an equal by her fellow artists. Inspired by kindred spirits including Theo van Rysselberghe, Paul Signac and Georges Seurat, Anna Boch set about developing her own personal version of Neo-Impressionism.

Anna Boch's lucid paintings chart her search for line and colour. Her passion for nature took her to remote destinations and imbued her with dreams of beautiful bucolic landscapes that she wanted to interpret. She loved the sea and succeeded in capturing the light and its reflection upon the coast with unparalleled skill, translating it into intriguing but above all timeless compositions. This book presents her oeuvre with more than 100 works, and resolutely claims a place for Anna Boch in the art history of the 19th and 20th centuries.

This book is published on the occasion of the exhibition Anna Boch, An Impressionist Journey at Mu.ZEE, Ostend from 1 July until 5 November 2023, and at the Musee de Pont-Aven from 3 February until 26 May 2024.

Edited by Virginie Devilez, with the cooperation of Stefan Huygebaert and Wendy Van Hoorde.