Maurice Pirenne

Still with Georges Le Brun and Albert Baertsoen, he frequented Octave Maus' La Libre Esthétique for a while and with whom he rejected the gratuitous virtuosity and violent of states of mind of expressionism (“Take your personality and lock it in a safe").

[1] In 1905, he married Maria Duesberg who bore a son, Maurice Henri Léonard, in 1912, an impetus for the painter's production of a series of intimate pastels representing domestic family scenes.

The son was a scientist, and inspired and encouraged by his father, developed a lifelong interest in drawing and painting which underscored his fascination with the convergence of visual physiology and artistic expression.

A critic concerned with promoting Walloon art was quick to bring them together as the Peintres intimistes verviétois and in 1936, this group devoted a major retrospective exhibition to him.

At the beginning of his career he painted large oils of the Fagne and the surroundings of his native town, but progressed to small formats, mainly in pastel, the subjects being urban landscapes and scenes of family life.