BESCHEY, Balthasar

Flemish painter and art dealer. He studied under Pieter Strick, an unknown painter who imitated the styles of accomplished Antwerp painters. In 1753 Beschey was admitted to the Painters’ Guild of St Luke in Antwerp and two years later he was elected Dean of the Guild of Saint Luke (1775-1776). In 1755 he was made one of the six directors of the Academy of Arts in Antwerp. Using his influential position at the Academy, Beschey sought to revive traditional practices through the study of Rubens. Among his pupils were Pieter Jozef Verhaghen, Willem Herreyns, and Andries Cornelis Lens. Beschey held the position of Professor at the Academy of Arts in Antwerp up until his death in 1776.

Beschey began his career as a landscape painter, but later switched to history and portrait painting. Near the end of his life he concentrated almost exclusively on religious subject matter. Balthasar also operated an art restoration workshop and art dealership in Antwerp. Thanks to his connections in England through his brother Jan Frans, he was able to export Flemish paintings to England.