HAMMAN, Edouard

Edouard-Jean-Conrad Hamman, Belgian painter and illustrator. He was a painter of historical subjects, genre scenes and portraits.

He studied first at the Tekenacademie in Ostend with François-Antoine Bossuet (1798-1889) and Michel van Cuyck (1797-1875), then from 1837 with Nicaise De Keyser in his private school in Antwerp. He was also influenced by the works of Louis Gallait. He completed his studies at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1839-43) with Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury and Thomas Couture. He settled in Paris and participated in the Salon from 1838.

From the beginning he painted historical genre scenes with great success. He depicted scenes from the life of famous painters, poets, scientists, such as Dante, Dürer, Gluck, Mozart, Haydn, Shakespeare, Stradivarius, etc.

He first exhibited at the Ghent Salon of 1838, but it was his Last Moments of Francisco de Zurbarán (untraced), shown at the Brussels Salon in 1842, that first brought him to the notice of the Belgian public. A commission from the Belgian government followed soon afterwards, Entry of Archduke Albert and Isabella into Ostend after the Fall of the Town in 1604 (destroyed). During his Antwerp period he also illustrated books by his friend the novelist Hendrik Conscience (1812-83), including his Histoire de Belgique (Antwerp, 1845).