(b London, 4 Nov 1858; d Brussels, 10 Oct 1917). Belgian painter and sculptor. He was born into a noble family: his father was a diplomat and his mother an English aristocrat. In England he received a rigid Protestant education that may explain the unemotional quality of much of his work. After serving in the British Navy between 1872 and 1874, he decided to become an artist, joining the studio of Jean-François Portaels in Brussels. He was also in contact with Louis Gallait, Alfred Jean André Cluysenaer (1837–1902) and Edouard Agneesens.