Edmond De Pratere

Edmond De Pratere, the artist behind this painting, was a painter who specialised in depictions of animals, particularly horses, cows and donkeys. Against a misty winter backdrop, he depicts a team of horses treading through the snow, accompanied by a dog. The realistic rendering of the horses blends with a pre-Impressionist pictorial touch in a highly controlled monochrome of whites. Contrary to what the title of the painting, La Porte de Namur sous la neige, suggests, this geographical location – which at the time marked the boundary between Brussels and Ixelles, its suburb – is not the main subject of the composition but a backdrop for the depiction of the horses. Edmond De Pratere was instrumental in the creation of the Musée d’Ixelles, as the contents of his studio were bequeathed by his sister to the municipality of Ixelles, which decided to turn them into a museum.

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