Rating and value of works, drawings, paintings by Henry de Groux

Nineteenth-century Belgian painter Henry de Groux (1866-1930) is associated with the Symbolist movement.

A member of the artistic group "Les XX", the painter criticized the society of his day and the social injustices it suffered. Henry de Groux is a major figure in 19th-century art.

If you own a work by or based on the work of artist Henry de Groux and would like to know its value, our state-approved experts and auctioneers can advise you.

Our specialists will carry out a free appraisal of your work, and provide you with a precise estimate of its current market value.

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Artist's rating and value

Because of their unusual themes, Henry de Groux's works are quite popular on the art market. His historical representations are the most prized by collectors, and can fetch tens of thousands of euros at auction.

The prices at which his works sell range from €10 to €37,000, a considerable delta but one that speaks volumes about the value that can be attributed to the artist's work.

A case in point is TheExceptional Bernard De Leye Collection,sold for €37,000 by German auction house Lempertz in 2021.

Order of value from the most basic to the most prestigious

Style and technique of the artist Heny de Groux

Opposed to the avant-gardes of his time and to emerging movements such as Cubism, Dadaism and Futurism, Henry de Groux stands out for his deep attachment to Romanticism.

A fervent admirer of Delacroix and Géricault, he drew on their heritage for an aesthetic imbued with idealism and grandeur.

His pictorial compositions, often dramatic and expressive, reflect a taste for heroic themes and apocalyptic visions, where intense emotions dominate.

As well as painting, De Groux also excelled in sculpture, where he expressed a similar sensibility. Strongly influenced by Symbolist literature, he created imaginary portraits of mythical and literary figures he deeply admired, such as Baudelaire, Dante and Napoleon.

These works embody an idealized, introspective vision, fusing personal homage with ambitious aesthetic research.

The artist also explores historical and mystical themes, notably through striking representations of Byzantine history, which he reinterprets with an almost visionary intensity.

His scenes, often populated by tormented crowds and individuals with tortured faces, are bathed in an atmosphere of chaos, where collective hysteria meets almost transcendental violence.

The torments he depicts, both physical and spiritual, reflect a fascination with the limits of the human soul in the face of hardship, as well as his own existential anxieties.

Henry de Groux thus embodies an artistic vision in which the exaltation of the Romantic sublime and narrative power intertwine, making him a figure apart, resolutely turned towards an idealized past in a changing world.

The life of Henry de Groux

Henry de Groux, born in Brussels in 1866, was the son of the Symbolist painter Charles de Groux, from whom he inherited his love of expressive, emotionally-charged subjects.

From an early age, he showed a precocious talent for drawing and painting, which led him to enter the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels.

He quickly distinguished himself by his flamboyant, rebellious personality, often at odds with his contemporaries.

Refusing to bow to academic norms and emerging avant-garde trends, he adheres to a Romantic and Symbolist tradition, in which the exaltation of emotions and the quest for the ideal predominate.

During his career, he moved to Paris, where he rubbed shoulders with the intellectual and artistic circles of the late XIXᵉ century.

Prolific, he regularly exhibited his work in prestigious salons, but his clear-cut positions and fiery temperament won him as many admirers as detractors.

Henry de Groux established himself as a committed artist, marked by a fascination for the great historical and literary figures, and by a heightened sensitivity to the upheavals of his time.

His personal life, marked by periods of instability and crisis, is reflected in his works, in which he expresses his inner torments with unparalleled intensity.

Until his death in 1930, he remained faithful to his Romantic aesthetic and fierce independence, leaving behind a prolific body of work deeply rooted in a tragic and sublime vision of humanity.

Focus on Le Christ aux outrages, Henri de Groux

Henry de Groux's "Christ aux outrages" masterfully illustrates the intense, tragic vision that characterizes his art.

This painting, created in 1891, is part of a Symbolist tradition in which the power of the image transcends the simple biblical narrative to reach a universal, timeless dimension.

At the center of the composition, Christ, dressed in a simple red cloak, seems almost crushed by a threatening crowd. The treatment of the surrounding figures, with their convulsed faces and chaotic postures, reflects a tormented humanity, caught up in blind collective violence.

De Groux adopts a dark palette, dominated by deep blacks and bright reds, lending the scene a dramatic intensity.

Nervous, sometimes cross-hatched brushstrokes testify to an inhabited, almost frenetic pictorial gesture that amplifies the emotion conveyed by the work.

Light, meanwhile, plays a fundamental role: it illuminates Christ in an almost unreal way, creating a striking contrast with the oppressive shadows enveloping the crowd.

This chiaroscuro, inspired by Baroque masters such as Caravaggio, reinforces the impression of a struggle between the divine and the profane, between spirituality and barbarism.

More than a simple religious scene, "Christ aux outrages" reflects the artist's obsession with existential and moral questions.

By highlighting individual suffering in the face of collective cruelty, Henry de Groux examines the human condition in all its complexity.

This painting, both moving and captivating, remains one of the most eloquent testimonies to his artistic and spiritual quest.

The legacy of Henry de Groux

Henry de Groux's legacy lies in his ability to crystallize, in his works, the tumults and anxieties of an era undergoing profound change.

A marginal figure, often in opposition to mainstream trends such as Cubism and Futurism, he embodies a late Romanticism tinged with Symbolism.

His paintings, marked by scenes of chaos and exaltation, reveal a rare sensitivity to the human condition and its torments.

By refusing to accept the conventions of his time, De Groux bequeathed a work of striking intensity, in which the pictorial gesture expresses an emotional urgency.

Beyond painting, his sculptures and drawings also bear witness to his fascination with heroic figures and mystical themes.

An admirer of Delacroix and Géricault, he took up the Romantic legacy while infusing it with a visionary force that would inspire certain Symbolist and Expressionist artists.

Today, De Groux's work is recognized as a powerful testimony to the fin de siècle, a mirror of the social and spiritual tensions that ran through his era.

Although his name remains less famous than that of his contemporaries, his work still influences those who seek to express, through art, the unfathomable depths of human experience.

Through his tormented visions and aesthetic explorations, Henry de Groux leaves a singular imprint, that of an artist in perpetual search of truth and emotion.

Henry de Groux's standing on the auction market

The price of Henry de Groux on the auction market reflects the growing interest in this atypical artist, often perceived as a link between late Romanticism and Symbolism, like Gustave Moreau or Odilon Redon. Odilon Redon. Long overshadowed by the major figures of his time, his works are now winning over collectors attracted by their emotional intensity and narrative richness.

His large-scale pictorial compositions, such as La Guerre or Le Christ aux outrages, fetch notable prices when they appear on the market, sometimes rivalling those of Félicien Rops for their provocative force, or Jean Delville for their mystical, transcendent dimension.

De Groux's drawings, imbued with nervousness and density, evoke the studies of Théophile Steinlen or the tormented sketches of James Ensor.

These pieces, privileged witnesses to his creative process, find a loyal audience among lovers of symbolism and turn-of-the-century graphic art.

His sculptures, though rare, are in the tradition of the expressiveness of Carriès or the heroic figures of Rodin, making them even more attractive on the market.

While his monumental paintings can fetch several tens of thousands of euros, more modest pieces, such as small studies or lithographs, remain affordable, attracting a wider audience, as in the case of works byAlphonse Osbert or Eugène Carrière.

Increased institutional interest in his work, combined with retrospective exhibitions, has reinforced his gradual recognition.

Thus, Henry de Groux, once marginalized, is gradually establishing himself alongside his contemporaries as a key figure for lovers of visionary Romanticism and tormented Symbolism.

His signature

Henry de Groux's works are not all signed.

Although there are variations, here's a first example of his signature:

Appraising your property

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