Xavier Mellery

A Belgian painter, draughtsman and illustrator, Xavier Mellery (1845–1921) became one of the most important figures in Belgian Symbolism. After his training at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels in the 1860s, he travelled to Rome, a trip that transformed his technical, symbolic and historical approach to the creative process. A member of the Les XX group, he produced intimate and mediative works about ordinary life, with a sombre palette, playing on chiaroscuro effects.

In Woman with a Dog, he has created a restrained and melancholy composition, in charcoal on paper, needing only a simple approach. As in his Portrait of a Young Girl (Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, inv. 4450), he focuses on a single figure, who looks out at us while holding her dog in her arms. The scene is frozen in a moment of silent expectation and confrontation.