Theo Van Rysselberghe (Belg/France, 1862-1926) 15x20 , O/B , monogram lower right , Sailboat in Harbor , Depicting: waterfront, sailboat, at dusk Provenance: "Sammlung, Max Stern, Berlin" stamp verso; by descent to current owner, from estate of art collecting predecessor Born in Ghent, Belgium Theo van Rysselberghe received his artistic training at the Academy of Ghent under Theo Caneel, and from 1879 on, at the Academy of Brussels under the directorship of Jean-Francois Portaels. He discovered the Pointillist technique when he saw Georges Seurat's La Grande Jatte at the eighth Impressionist exhibition in Paris in 1886. Shortly thereafter, he began to adopt this mode in his own work. His technique became more relaxed around the turn of the century, and after 1910, he abandoned Pointillism completely. His brushwork became increasingly bolder and he turned to a more vivid palette. Intense contrasts and softened hues are notable in his works from this period. In 1911, van Rysselberghe retired to the Côte d'Azur. Here he continued painting, mostly landscapes of the Mediterranean coast, portraits, and decorative murals.