(b Brussels, 30 Aug 1774; d Brussels, 11 April 1841). Flemish painter. He was taught by his father, an amateur painter, and then by Jean-Baptiste de Roy (1759–1839). He painted his first pictures in the countryside around Brussels (e.g. View of Watermael, 1806; untraced) and exhibited at the Ghent Salon from 1804. He painted the first of many landscapes of the Ardennes in 1808, and his subject-matter rarely strayed from this familiar ground. He was principally attracted to picturesque and hilly countryside and was keen to capture nature at its most forceful; he sought in particular settings that were in some way unusual, such as streams, mountains and closely observed rock formations (e.g. River in the Ardennes, 1821; Amsterdam, Rijksmus.). His concern for objectivity sometimes led to an emphasis on mere description of his subject at the expense of conveying its further evocative or symbolic value. In 1811 van Assche exhibited an Italian view, Landscape near Tivoli (untraced), in which he acknowledged contemporary Neo-classical taste. He did not visit Italy until 1815, however, and chose to remain in the north where the mountain scenery appealed to his Romantic sensibility. This two-year journey also included Switzerland, Germany and the Low Countries, and the work he showed on his return at various Salons across the country was well-received. Much of his later life was taken up with teaching responsibilities and, after 1823, the administration of the Musée de Bruxelles alongside François-Joseph Navez and Joseph-Denis Odevaere. He also continued to paint landscapes based on drawings from his travels, primarily of waterfalls (e.g. Waterfall at la Toccia, 1836; Brussels, Mus. A. Anc.).

• Assche, Henri van
  • Verboeckhoven: (1) Eugène Verboeckhoven