[EDIT: Eupen/Washington.DC, August 15]On the 10th anniversary of his death, an early work of the East Belgian artist Roger Greisch has turned up in Washington D.C. The Meuse-Rhine Journal was instrumental in putting the current art owner (located in Washington, DC) in touch with the IKOB museum in Eupen. The Curator at IKOB (Mr Feidler) has authenticated the signature of the Belgian artist on a photograph, and believes this newly discovered work was done by Greisch before 1940.
Roger Greisch was born in Stockem-Heimsch in 1917 and died in Bütgenbach in 1999. He lived in Ouren in Belgium’s German-speaking Region as a teacher and is, without doubt, one of the most well-known painters from East Belgium. One of his later abstract works (painted in 1987) is currently on exhibit at the IKOB.
The painting recently discovered in DC is reported to be in excellent condition. It is an oil on canvas landscape, 21.5 inches in width and 18 inches in height. The work is said to be impeccably preserved, because it has been locked away for 63 years.
The paintings have been in the USA since 1946 and were recently inherited by a private party --- who is a family member of an American serviceman from Texas. He was a veteran who fought in World War II.
Although the current owner of the painting sees the opportunity of dealing with local museums --- such as the Smithsonian, in Washington, DC --- a sensitivity has been expressed by first inquiring about returning Greisch's work to the place of the artist's origin ... the German-speaking region of Belgium.
At this time, no definite decision has been made, but it is possible the painting will be offered for sale, or for auction, after it has been formally appraised.
The work by Greisch displayed here is not the landscape in question
SW