Edouard van Speybrouck

A painter active in Brussels between 1880 and 1912, Édouard van Speybrouck made small, finely brushed oil panels of city corners and riverbanks. His 1905 view of the Quai des Péniches and the 1897 sketch of the Grand-Place after rain show muted skies and wet cobblestones with an almost photographic finish. Look for the way lamplight catches the gable of the Maison du Roi in the Grand-Place scene. Next, tap into his 1880 riverside canvas where barges drift past brick warehouses under a flat grey sky.