Évariste Carpentier (1845 – 1922) was a Belgian painter of genre scenes and animated landscapes. Over the years, his painting evolved from academic art to impressionism. Alongside Emile Claus, he is one of the earliest representatives of luminism in Belgium. Biography Youth Évariste Carpentier was born into a modest family of farmers in Kuurne. He became a pupil at the Academy of Fine Arts of Courtrai in 1861, under the direction of Henri De Pratere. There, he obtained many distinctions. In 1864 he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp where he received tuition from Nicaise de Keyser. He proved to be gifted in painting from life, and achieved the prize of excellence in 1865, which allowed him to obtain a private studio in the Academy the following year. Early career In 1872, Carpentier established himself in Antwerp and acquired his own studio. It is there that he painted many commissioned works, which did not yet reflect his artistic personality. He began his career addressing religious topics, themes of antiquity and scenes inspired by the Dutch Golden Age painting of the 17th century, but it is in the field of historical painting that he became well known. The painting "Les premières nouvelles du désastre de la Grande Russie", exhibited at the Artistic Circle of Antwerp in 1872, is an example of this success. In response to the academic tastes of his time, he liked to paint farm animals and, more generally, the charms of rural life. At around this period, Évariste Carpentier befriended some of his classmates from the Academy, including Emile Claus, Theodoor Verstraete, Frans Hens and Jan Van Beers. They met often at the exhibitions organised by the Artistic Circle of Antwerp. From 1874 to 1877, Émile Claus occupied a corner of Carpenter’s studio. In 1876, an old knee injury, caused in his youth, developed serious complications and threatened to require amputation. The pain prevented him from working. He left Antwerp to return to his hometown, where his sister provided him with care and treatment for the next three years. France On the advice of his doctor, Carpentier left Kuurne in 1879 for the south of France, in order to speed up his recovery. The following year, on his return, he stopped in Paris, where he met his friend Jan Van Beers. He was persuaded to move to the French capital, where Van Beers would