Bellio

  To the preceding names I would like to add the name of Georges de Bellio, who wasn't an art producer through continuous production, but who was still a producer of art, in his own way, by being the friend, councilor and supporter of these artists in their difficult moments. Some people in Paris were truly touched by the news of his death, in late January 1894. Still his name remains unfamiliar to the majority of people. But why should we confine ourselves to giving our homage only to those who deserved celebrity even in their lifetime? Why shouldn't we grant our homage to the ignorant ones? Why shouldn't we try to reveal a person, to perpetuate a memory? Mr. de Bellio, a Romanian who lived in Paris for a very long time, in a world of intelligence and art, had played a modest and important part at the same time. What part? That of a kind man, supporting and active. Artists who made their debut 20-25 years ago remember him, and they always will: Claude Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and many others who encountered so much hostility and misunderstanding. He was for them a friend in the hardest moments, the one who helped them so often to surpass the difficult moments in life. All those who came close to Mr. de Bellio received a comfortable welcome, he was a spirit open to everything related to work and love for beauty. I can still see him next to me and Eugene Carriere, George Lecomte – in that luminous and tidy apartment, where he exhibited his paintings, the objects he loved, and that ground floor where he placed so many objects of his collection, his books and his chemistry laboratory, and everything he needed to complete his medical studies which he continued throughout his life. Strange interior! Mr. de Bellio looked like a savant in his house, like a friendly wizard, constantly smiling, looking at his guests with eyes filled with kindness. The dominant trait of his character would be, besides his good taste, his perpetual curiosity – the beauty of his moral personality. But all these came together, merged into spiritual harmony and kindness, kindness as an example, which travels and touches everyone who comes in contact with him, to make them think and yearn for his blessed presence. This focus, this irradiation were in Mr. de Bellio. May it still remain, may it appear here in these lines where memory and emotion are felt. Excerpted from Artistic Life, 1892-1902,Paris


by Gustave Geoffroy