Jacques Dormont

JACQUES DORMONT (Belgium, 1914-2005).
"The artist with his daughter".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 62 x 75 cm; 83 x 100 cm (frame).

Through an apparently objective optic, the artist Jacques Dormont portrays himself with his daughter. The proud posture of the first-time father -who with one hand is enough to hold his daughter, while the other hand is placed at his waist in an attitude of security- is directly related to his face, in which a slight smile can be guessed. The little girl, only a few years old, looks attentively at the viewer, oblivious to what is happening, adding a naïve touch to the composition.

Jacques Dormont's life began with a tragic event, as he was left deaf as a result of the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. However, this did not prevent him from devoting himself to painting. At the age of 15, he entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Mons, where he studied drawing and painting with Louis Buisseret, and mural painting with Léon Navez. From 1946 until his retirement, he taught drawing and graphic arts at the Berchem-Ste-Agathe Institute for the Deaf. Some of his works have been acquired by the State, the province of Hainaut, the province of Brabant and the municipality of Dour.