1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Willems, Florent Joseph Marie

WILLEMS, FLORENT JOSEPH MARIE (1823-1905), Belgian painter, was born at Liége on the 8th of January 1823. He had no regular tuition in painting, but learnt by copying and restoring old pictures at Malines, where he lived from 1832. He made his debut at the Brussels Salon in 1842 with a “Music Party” and an “Interior of a 17th-century Guard-room” in the style of Terburg and Metsu. Soon afterwards he settled in Paris, where his pictures enjoyed considerable popularity under the second empire. Among his most famous works may be mentioned “The Wedding Dress” (Brussels Gallery), “La Fête des grands-parents” (Brussels Gallery), “Le Baise-main” (Mme. Cardon's collection, Brussels), “Farewell” (Willems coll., Brussels), “The Arches of the Peace” (Delahaye coll., Antwerp) and “The Widow” (engraved by Desvachez). He died at Neuilly-sur-Seine on the 23rd of October 1905.