Jacques-Albert Senave

Jacques-Albert Senave (1758–1823) was a Flemish painter mainly active in Paris during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is known for his genre scenes, history paintings, landscapes, city views, market scenes and portraits.

Early Life, Education, and Career in Paris

Early Training in Loo Born to a baker on 12 September 1758 in Loo, in the Austrian Netherlands (modern day Lo, Belgium), Senave began taking artistic training under Canon Hennequin, at the Augustinian abbey of his native town.

Further Training in Dunkirk and Saint-Omer At the age of 15, Senave entered the Academy of Dunkirk in 1773. During his time in Dunkirk, he balanced his academic time by spending his days assisting in a bakery to support himself, and practicing his art at the academy in the evenings. Over time, as he had to spend more time working in the bakery, his art studies suffered and he returned to live with his parents. He was able to resume his studies in Dunkirk with the financial support of M. Truit, who was one of his teachers at the academy, who recognised Senave's talent. This allowed Senave to study full-time at Dunkrirk. After graduating, Senave later continued his studies at the Academies of Saint-Omer, where Truit had been appointed a teacher at the local school of drawing . After a year in Saint-Omer, Canon Hennequin procured for him a commission to decorate a pavilion in his hometown Lo, which Hennequin (who was also an architect) had designed for a local family.

Move to Paris and Ypres

The money earned from this commission allowed Senave to travel to Paris in 1780. He continued his studies at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture for a few months until his money ran out. He returned to his hometown where he worked on local commissions for religious institutions and local dignitaries. Through contacts of his patron the abbot Hennequin, he was admitted as a student in the Academy of Ypres. In Ypres, Senave was also introduced to prominent art lovers. The bishop of Ypres Felix Josephus Hubertus de Wavrans became his patron. Senave painted portraits and other subjects for the bishop.

After donating to the Painting Academy of Ypres a painting depicting Rembrandt in his workshop (destroyed during World War I), Senave was appointed Honorary Director of the Academy in 1821. His donated work formed the beginning of the art collection of the City Museum of Ypres. He also received the honor of being made an honorary member of the Royal Society of Fine Arts and Literature of Ghent.

Personal life On 19 May 1789, Jacques-Albert Senave married Marguerite Martin in Paris (Saint-André-des-Arts).

Senave painted religiously themed works such as the Seven Works of Mercy created for the Saint Peter's church in his hometown Lo. He only painted a few portraits. An example is the Portrait of a 48-year old gentleman (Sotheby's Amsterdam 5 May 2009, lot 101). It shows the unidentified sitter seated in his study with his right arm resting on a book on a small table. The book tells something about the sitter's beliefs: it is didactic poem, Altaergeheimnissen (Dutch for 'Secrets of the Altar') first published 1645 in which the Catholic convert Joost van den Vondel expounded the doctrine of the Eucharist.