Franz Van Holder was a post-Impressionist painter of the Belle Epoque and Art Nouveau period in Brussels. He was renowned for his portraits of the Brussels aristocracy, such as members of the Wolfers family. He started out in his father’s workshop as a painter-decorator.

Numerous parlors and interiors of the Brussels bourgeoisie were designed and painted by the Van Holder workshop. Later Van Holder went for further training at the academy of Sint-Gillis. After a tour in Spain, Italy and Switzerland, he returned to Brussels. In 1905 he joined the ‘Pour l’Art’ association.