About the artist
Henri Privat Antoine Théodore Livemont (alias Privat-Livemont) (Schaerbeek, 1861 - 1936) was a Brussels Art Nouveau painter-decorator who is best known for his posters, but is also responsible for many of the sgraffiti on Brussels art nouveau houses.
Privat-Livemont was one of the most prolific graphic artists in Belgium. He made his breakthrough in 1896 with his famous advertising poster for the Belgian absinthe brand Absinthe Robette. His art nouveau style was very popular with Dutch, Belgian and French entrepreneurs, including Cacao Van Houten, Boldoot and Bols. In addition to his popular posters, Privat-Livemont, as a painter and decorator, was also responsible for many of the sgraffiti drawings on Art Nouveau facades in Brussels. His work is often mentioned in the same breath as prominent contemporaries such as Alphonse Mucha and Adolphe Crespin.
Privat Livemont was the son of a coal trader who had emigrated to Brussels and a housekeeper from Hainaut. There is some ambiguity about his first name: he is referred to as Henri, Henry, Georges and T.
He studied at the École des arts decoratives in Sint-Joost-ten-Node (among others under Louis Hendrickx) and won a scholarship to continue his studies in Paris.
Between 1883-1889: worked and studied in Paris for the studios of Lemaire, Lavastre & Duvignaud, mainly as a decorative painter, where he assists, among other things, with the renovation of the Hôtel de Ville. He marries the French Madelon.
In 1889, on his return from Paris, he enters a poster competition on a whim for a local group of art lovers, which he wins. He also became a draftsman and then a correspondent for Le Monde Illustré. Afterwards he works for the radical newspaper La Réforme.
According to some, his work was inspired by contemporary Alfons Mucha who also lived in Paris from 1887.
He could never have been a student of Mucha because there are works by Privat-Livemont, five years older than Mucha's first poster. However, both had an urge to idealize women, a precise drawing style and they excelled in the decorative style. However, the Privat-Livemont style used a lot of vibrant colors.
Between 1891-1935 he taught design, ornament and figure at the new École industrielle de Schaerbeek.
In 1900 Henry Privat-Livemont realized his first sgraffito. Later he will receive several prizes for his sgraffiti. Henry Privat-Livemont collaborated with architects Alban Chambon, Paul Saintenoy, Joseph Diongre, Franz Hemelsoet and Henri Jacobs, among others.
In 1904 his marriage ends after an affair with a model. Henry Privat-Livemont dies in 1936
