Charles François Felu
(1830-1900), Portrait painterSitter in 2 portraits
Born without arms on 26 June at Waermaede, near Courtrai, North Flanders, Charles Francois Felu nevertheless achieved considerable success as a painter. He studied in Antwerp where he copied hundreds of paintings by masterfully using his feet, specimens of his works are to be found all around the world especially in America. In 1874 Felu visited London, where many people saw him copying in the National Gallery and the museums in Kensington. Felu mixed colours with ease and held the palette with his left toe gripping the palette like a thumb. He used his right foot to paint. His interests were literary as well as artistic, he composed verse and several tragedies one of which was successfully produced in Antwerp.
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