A man stands with a staff in front of a massive broken cartwheel in a bizzare cityscape. Signed R. Tobie bottom left.
Canvas Size: 39.25" x 59" Frame Size: 46.5" x 66.5" x 2"
Rene Tobie was born in Wangenies, Fleurus, Belgium in 1920, and learned to paint from his father, a house painter who painted faux wood and marble. Tobie then trained under the artist Lemaire until 1932 when the height of the Great Depression in Belgium forced him to work with his father. His career as an artist was again blocked during World War II, when he was captured as a prisoner of war by the Nazis. Following his release at the end of the war, Tobie moves to Charleroi, Belgium and resumes his artistic training, first with Cuvelier, then with Jean Ransy, Alphonse Darville, and Jos Gregoire. In 1954 at the age of 34 Tobie had his first exhibit in Ghent, Belgium. He would go on to win prizes in many shows, and to show in the 50th Salon National des Beaux-Arts in 1960 in Paris.
