Ferdinand-Joseph Derons

Ferdinand-Joseph Derons (also: De Rons ; * 1700 in Brussels ; † 1762 there ) was a Belgian watercolor painter and draftsman.

Building of the Grand-Place 1727 by Ferdinand-Joseph Derons

Life

Little is known about Deron's life. He was baptized on September 4, 1700 in the old church of Saint-Géry and was the fourth child of Michel Deron, an organist. His name did not appear until 1719 in an account book of the Académie royale des beaux arts de Bruxelles , where he attended courses for a short time. For a while he lived with the painter André Martin, who was also a landscape painter.

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His work consists of numerous drawings, although the actual authorship could not be clarified for all of them. Most of his drawings date from 1723 to 1760. He drew depictions of Brussels and its buildings as well as the surrounding landscapes with the utmost precision. His work received little attention for a long time, but is now the subject of research due to its documentary and historical value.

Towards the end of the 19th century, a series of five watercolors from 1727, bought by the city of Brussels in 1853, became of paramount importance. The buildings of the Grand-Place / Grote Markt were shown in the watercolors . The accuracy of the brushwork made it possible, under the direction of Mayor Charles Buls , to restore the buildings to their original appearance.

In contrast to Augustin Coppens , who documented Brussels after its destruction in 1695 in his paintings, Derons depicts the city after it was rebuilt. Another of his series depicts the major fire that destroyed the Palat Coudenberg from different angles. The port of Brussels and its canals are another of his favorite subjects.

Derons sketched the rural area, the old castles or the sailing areas of the nobility and bourgeoisie of Brussels within a radius of around 20 kilometers outside the city. It is assumed that this was commissioned work.

literature

• Anne Deknop, Krista De Jonge: De la ville et ses plaisantes campagnes. Regards sur Bruxelles et ses environs au 18e siècle. Designs et peintures de F.-J. Derons et A. Martin. Musée de la Ville de Bruxelles, Brussels 2007, ISBN 978-2-930423-06-7 (exhibition catalog, Brussels, Hôtel de Ville de Bruxelles, October 10, 2007 - January 13, 2008).