Maurice van Essche
Maurice van Essche (4 October 1906, Antwerp, Belgium – 12 June 1977, Thonon, France) was a Belgian-born South African artist and art teacher who achieved national and international recognition in his lifetime. Life Maurice van Essche was born 1906, in Antwerp, Belgium, the seventh of eleven children, of whom only eight survived infancy. The family was French-speaking despite its Flemish roots; his mother's maiden name was De Ridder. He studied art at the Brussels Academy in 1924 under James Ensor, but halted his studies in 1925 for lack of funding, first working in a stained glass studio, then designing wallpaper – both of which experiences are actively reflected in many of his works. He also worked as a freelance cartoonist, but painted all the while. In 1933 he studied briefly under Henri Matisse in France (see Anecdotes), having met him by chance in an artist's supply shop in Cagnes, France. Thereafter he continued to paint and study full-time thanks to the sponsorship of his elder brother, Joseph Charles, and a group of friends. His break came in July 1939 when he won a scholarship in a competition organised by the Belgian Government, who commissioned him to undertake a painting expedition