“Nil Virtuti Invium” by Henri Gauquié
“Nil Virtuti Invium”
by Henri Gauquié
« Nil Virtuti Invium » is a tour de force of 19th-century French sculpture, capturing both the human condition and the complexity of physical form.
Galatea by Edward Vereycken
Galatea by Edward Vereycken
Galatea: A Masterpiece by Belgian Sculptor Edward Vereycken
Description: Galatea, a magnificent marble sculpture created by renowned Belgian artist Edward Vereycken, stands as a testament to the artist’s exceptional talent and dedication to his craft. Crafted from the finest Carrara marble, the 170 cm tall sculpture is an embodiment of elegance and beauty. The base of the statue, made from the luxurious Portor marble, adds an extra layer of sophistication to this already captivating piece.
Belgian Sculptor Edward Vereycken (Antwerp 1893 – 1965 Herentals)
Edward Vereycken, born in Antwerp in 1893, began his artistic journey early by training under Professor Baggen and sculptor Oscar Jespers. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts with Baron Vinçotte. After volunteering in World War I and being injured multiple times, he focused entirely on art. Post-war, he created 18 monuments, including the impressive Infantry Monument in Brussels. His style, reminiscent of Rodin, combined anatomical precision with varied expressions. Despite personal struggles, he believed art should explore meaning and be universally accessible, as seen in his masterpiece, Galatea, which embodies his dedication and skill. Vereycken’s legacy shows the enduring power of art.
The comparison between Vereycken and French sculptor Rodin is not unfounded. Both artists possessed a remarkable ability to capture vibrating muscle masses with unerring anatomical precision. Vereycken’s work also showcased an extensive range of styles, sometimes serene and pure, and other times highly expressive.
Material : White Carrara marble
Overall size : 170 cm
Period : CA.1930
Cupid caught in the net by Ercole Rosa
Cupid caught in the net by Ercole Rosa
CUPID CAUGHT IN THE NET BY ERCOLE ROSA
Description: Cupid has dropped his quiver and an arrow on the ground at his feet and struggles, in a gesture full of tension and childish anger, in the effort to free himself from a tightly-woven net in which he is partially trapped. Whilst his contorted pose is of Mannerist inspiration, the idea of the figure caught in a net is derived from Baroque virtuoso sculpture and brings to mind the Disillusionment executed between 1753-1754 by Francesco Queirolo (1704-1762) for the Sansevero Chapel in Naples.
The original plaster model of « Love Caught in the Net » is listed among those in Rosa’s studio in Via di Ripetta and auctioned between 20 and 21 March 1894, after his death.
The Roman Ercole Rosa (Roma, 1846 – 1893)
Considered by the critic Francesco Sapori to be the « most powerful Italian sculptor of the 19 century », the Roman Ercole Rosa, author of this masterful Cupid Caught in the Net, was certainly one of the protagonists of sculpture in the decades immediately following the unification of Italy and the establishment of Rome as its capital from 1870.
Material : White Carrara marble. Original column in portor and arabescato.
Height : 130 cm
Diameter of base : 30 cm
Period : CA. 1875-77
THE YOUTH AND LOVE BY LUCIENNE HEUVELMANS
The youth and love by Lucienne heuvelmans
THE YOUTH AND LOVE BY LUCIENNE HEUVELMANS
Description : This magnificent sculpture by the French artist Lucienne Heuvelmans is titled « Youth and Love. » This piece is remarkable because it comes from another project that made L. Heuvelmans famous: « Illusions and Regret. » Therefore, this subject is inseparable from the artist’s major work.This piece is even more significant as it is signed and bears the following inscription: « Grand Prix de Rome original in marble. » Being the first woman in history to have won the Prix de Rome, this sculpture can easily be described as « museum-worthy. »
Beyond its truly exceptional historical aspect, the subject is remarkably well sculpted. The intricacy of the clothing, the expressions on the faces, the attention to detail, and the overall beauty of the work unequivocally demonstrate the technical mastery and, more generally, the incredible talent of Lucienne Heuvelmans.
The Belgian sculptress Lucienne Heuvelmans (Paris, 1881 – Saint-Cast-le-Guildo, 1944)
Lucienne Heuvelmans, a Belgian artist, trained in her family’s workshop before studying under Denys Puech and at École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts. In 1911, she became the first woman to win the Grand Prix de Rome in sculpture, earning recognition for her talent and feminism. Her stay at Villa Medici allowed her to create notable works and sculpt the bust of Lili Boulanger. She later taught and exhibited widely, focusing on religious sculpture, and her legacy lives on through her workshop’s contribution to Notre-Dame-d’Espérance church.
Material : White Carrara marble
Dimensions: 69,5 x 51,5 x 27 cm
Period : 19th Century
The Awakening by André D’Houdain
The Awakening
by André D’Houdain
THE AWAKENING BY ANDRÉ D’HOUDAIN
Description : “Le Réveil” (The Awakening) by the french artist André D’Houdain (1860-1904) signed and dated 1890.
Artist : The French sculptor André D’Houdain
Material : White Carrara marble
Provenance : The sculpture was exhibited at the Salon of Paris in 1890 – Palais de l’Industrie.
Prowling Tiger By Guglielmo Pugi
Prowling Tiger By Guglielmo Pugi
This sculpture, c. 1910 by the Italian artist Gugliemo Pugi, depicts a prowling tiger bearing his teeth on a solid marble terrain.
Prowling Tiger By Guglielmo Pugi
This sculpture, c. 1910 by the Italian artist Gugliemo Pugi, depicts a prowling tiger bearing his teeth on a solid marble terrain. The modern and sleek finish suggests an early example of the art deco style. An art deco animal sculpture in marble is a rarity and very difficult to find. The defined musculature, fur and movement in the marble bring the animal to life. Pugi’s technical mastery is demonstrated in the exceptional realism of the work. The base is signed « G. Pugi ».
Guglielmo Pugi (Fiesole, 1850 – 1915)
Born in 1850 in Fiesole (Tuscany, Italy), the Italian sculptor Guglielmo Pugi was a master of the Art Nouveau style. Pugi resided in Florence until his death in 1915, establishing his workshop, « Guglielmo i figli », with his two sons Gino and Fiorenzo.
His sculptures, carved directly in alabaster or Carrara marble (white or veined), were mainly exported to the United States. Several of them were presented at the Pan-American Exhibition of 1901 in Buffalo, as well as at the World Fair in St. Louis in 1904.
Several noteworthy sculptures and portraits are preserved in the historical alabaster museum in Volterra, Italy. Additionally, the bust of King Humbert I stands in the main
square of his hometown, Fiesole.
After Pugi’s death, his two sons carried on his legacy, taking over the workshop and changing the name to: »Fratelli G. e F. Pugi » (Brothers G. and F. Pugi), signed « Flli Pugi ».
- Height : 32,5 cm
- Lenght & Depth : 55 x 27,5 cm
- White Carrara marble sculpture.
- 1910
The Bath by Antonio Frilli
The Bath by Antonio Frilli
Art Deco Marble sculpture of a beautiful nude young woman lying on a rock. Her right arm rubs on her chest showing that she takes her bath.
The Bath by Antonio Frilli
Art Deco Marble sculpture of a beautiful nude young woman lying on a rock. Her right arm rubs on her chest showing that she takes her bath. This sculpture is a perfect example of an Art Deco sculpture of high quality. The elegance of the subject, the details of the carving and the purity of the marble shows us how talented and precise the artist was.
Antonio Frilli (Firenze c. 1880 – after 1921 )
The Sculpture is signed « A. Frilli Firenze » from Antonio Frilli.
Antonio Frilli is one of the italian sculptors who excels in the Art Deco period. Altought little is known about the artist in literature, all the sculptures we found back from him testify great skill and virtuosity. Most sculpture that we examined were very popular at auctions around the world.
- Height : 58 cm
- Base : Irregular : 40 x 32 cm
- White marble sculpture whitout veins “Bianco Statuario”.
- Firenze
- Art Deco ca. 1920.
- PANZETTA, A. Nuovo Dizionario degli Scultori Italiani dell’Ottocento e del primo Novecento, 3e éd. Italy : Umberto Allemandi & C., 2003. Vol.1. p.377.
Raphael by Charles Geerts
Raphael by Charles Geerts
Interpretation of the famous painter Raphael by Charles Geerts, signed and dated 1845.
This is a copy of the famous bust commissioned by the first King of the Belgians, Leopold I, in 1836 at the Ghent Salon. Of exemplary finishing quality, this bust stands out for the voluptuousness of the subject’s hairstyle, the folds and details of his clothes faithfully transcribed in marble, and the delicacy of the face.
His madonnas made him a master of the Italian Renaissance revered by the greatest painters, from Jacques-Louis David to Pablo Picasso, including Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Eugène Delacroix. The divine Raphael (1483–1520), with his soft and sweet brush, is the author of famous frescoes for the Vatican. More than a painter, Raphael is a true myth in the history of art: a prodigious talent, lover of Fornarina, passionate about antiquity, he was able to combine the grandeur of a Michelangelo with the gentle modeling of a Leonardo da Vinci. He embodies the spirit of the Renaissance.
Charles Geerts (Antwerp, 1807 – 1855, Leuven)
Trained at the Antwerp Academy (1824 – 33), with sculptor Jean-Baptiste Van Hool (1769 – 1837) and Dutch sculptor Jan Antoon Van der Ven (1799 – 1866). In 1834, he was appointed sculpture professor at the Leuven Academy, where he taught until his death.
He debuted in 1834 at the Antwerp Salon with a bust and a statue: « The Dawn ».
He received the commission for nine busts of composers and playwrights for the rotunda of the Royal Theatre of Antwerp. He sculpted the bust of Raphael, which was purchased at the Ghent Salon by Leopold I (1836).
Official commissions: marble bust of a Madonna (today on Zaïre Street); a Saint Maurice, for the Berverloo camp (1842); a Scene of the Flood (1839), today at the University Library of Leuven.
For the Palais des Nations, he executed the monument to John the Conqueror, Duke of Brabant and Limburg; six statues for the facade of the Leuven Town Hall (1849-52), and for the facade of the Bruges Town Hall (1855 – and which were removed in 1959)
Dimensions : 59x39x27 cm
- White Carrara marble sculpture.
- 1845
« Cat playing » by Affortunato Gori & Achille Fidi
« Cat playing » by Affortunato Gori & Achille Fidi
A singular and extremely rare small sculpture of a cat playing with a thread of wool by Italian artists Affortunato Gori and Achille Fidi
A singular and extremely rare small sculpture of a cat playing with a thread of wool by Italian artists Affortunato Gori and Achille Fidi.
This particularly cheerful animal sculpture is a unique work because it is signed by two renowned Italian artists.
Affortunato Gori
Affortunato Gori was an Italian sculptor active from 1895 to 1925, the year he died. Originally from Florence, he studied sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti under Augustus Rivalta. Like many Italian artists, Gory emigrated to Paris at the beginning of the 20th century to practice his art. He changed his name from Fortunato Gori to Affortunato Gori and began to exhibit at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1902 with a bronze and marble bust of a woman. His graceful female sculptures combine bronze and marble, alabaster or ivory materials.He continued to present his works there until 1923.
Achille Fidi
Our sculpture bears the signature « A. Fidi ». Achille Fidi was a sculptor of Italian origin who lived in Asnières. Many of the period documents mentioning him relate to an event that made him infamous: the « Rodin forgery » affair of 1919. Achille Fidi – mentioned as being a « talented statuary » aged fifty-eight at the time of the events – was indeed implicated, arrested and then charged with « forgery and counterfeiting in artistic matters » and « affixing a false name or signature to works of art » as well as for fraud. The Minister of Fine Arts had warned the curator of the Rodin Museum, Mr Bénédite, that dubious reproductions were in circulation. It was learned that Mr. Jacques Bouyon de Chalus – known as Comte de Chalus – who was the husband of the widow of Rodin’s friend and oculist, was thus justifying the origin of the bronzes he was selling. However, a search of the Count’s house revealed twenty-four new subjects, all signed and dedicated. He was arrested and denounced Achille Fidi who, for his part, declared that the bronzes came from the workshops of the Montagutelli brothers, two art founders. The fake masterpieces must have been successful because they were sold to dealers and connoisseurs such as Bernheim, Grumbach and Pecquement. The Count of Chelus, Achille Fidi and one of the two Montagutelli brothers then shared the proceeds. In his defence, Achille Fidi mentioned his five young children, explaining that poverty threatened his family. Several other people were charged with forgery and falsification of art, and with forging names and signatures on works of art. This was the case of Paul Gallimard, a famous collector and bibliophile whose son founded the publishing house of the same name, who was also convicted of handling stolen goods in this case. The case was widely reported in the press, particularly because it involved Amélie Diéterle, Paul Gallimard’s mistress, a famous actress who was the muse of many writers and artists such as Stéphane Mallarmé, Renoir and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
- Dimensions : 22,5 x 27,5 x 21,5 cm
- White Carrara marble sculpture.
- Circa 1900
- PANZETTA, A. Nuovo Dizionario degli Scultori Italiani dell’Ottocento e del primo Novecento. 3e éd. Italy : Umberto Allemandi & C., 2003. Vol.1. p. 441.
- « La multiplication des Rodins : La production était si active qu’un prix-courant s’était établi ! ».1919. Le Matin (Paris), 10 mai, p. 1.
« The Castanet Player » by Jef Lambeaux
« The Castanet Player » by Jef Lambeaux
Impressive in size, measuring no less than 123 cm in height, and Impressive sculpture of an elegant castanet player by the Belgian artist Jef Lambeaux.
This exceptionally large work, carved from high quality marble, perfectly reflects the genius of Jef Lambeaux. The subject of the ‘Joueuse de Castagnettes’ is also addressed by the artist in another bronze sculpture. This is a typical creation of Lambeaux who likes to invent scenes of seductive and tempting young women in a spirit of jubilation and provocative truculence.
These odes to quivering flesh, which Lambeaux elevated to an ideal of pure creation, often provoked the wrath of conservative audiences but delighted enthusiasts. Lagey wrote of the laughing freshness expressed in many of Lambeaux’s sculptures, ‘it is a poem of the flesh that he celebrates in each of his statuary stanzas, bubbling with intense life’.
Jef Lambeaux ( Anvers, 1852 – 1908, Bruxelles)
Jozef Maria Thomas Lambeaux was born in Antwerp on 14 January 1852 to a Walloon father and a Flemish mother. He excelled in drawing at a very young age and began his education under the auspices of the crafts. In turn, he worked for a ship’s bow maker, then for a cabinetmaker and finally for a stonecutter.
He entered the Antwerp Academy in 1861, where he deliberately focused on the study of sculpture and anatomy in the middle years. He failed the final test for the Prix de Rome in 1873, even though he was ranked first in the preparatory competition. The theme of this test would have left the artist perplexed by the historical part of the content. Indeed, Jef Lambeaux had no primary education and even less classical studies, but this did not prevent him from showing an interest in a culture that he had missed. In 1883, Jef Lambeaux was a founding member of the Brussels avant-garde group Les Vingt.
Works:
His work includes Le Faune mordu shown at the Brussels (1897) and Paris (1900) World Fairs, but was the focus of a nude controversy at the 1905 World Fair in Liege, where the work was covered with a veil. Another major work is Les Passions humaines (1886), a marble bas-relief that was incorporated into Victor Horta’s pavilion in the Parc du Cinquantenaire, for which he was awarded a medal of honour at the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris.
He was appointed a member of the Royal Academy of Belgium in 1903. Since 1899, the relief of the Passions has been the subject of both praise and criticism.
Pupils:
– Georges Van der Straeten
– Jean Gaspar
He regularly led a group of young painters and sculptors in Saint-Gilles (Brussels).
Article in La Libre, 29-08-2008: « We almost forgot the hundred years of his death! Yet Jef Lambeaux (1852-1908) was a great sculptor and a very romantic personality. During his lifetime he received twenty monumental commissions for public spaces: the statue of Brabo in Antwerp, the Pavilion of Human Passions at the Cinquantenaire in a building by Horta, two sculptures in the Sablon, etc. His fame was equal to the ‘scandal’ that he spread with pleasure. His neo-baroque sculptures, full of sensuality and flesh, in the vein of Rubens and Jordaens, earned him the attacks of the self-righteous and the Catholic milieu. The fate of the phenomenal Human Passions, our Taj Mahal, has remained famous. It was a public commission and the state, proud of the result, made a plaster duplicate that was exhibited in a number of world exhibitions (this duplicate is in the Ghent Museum of Fine Arts, which is announcing a Jef Lambeaux exhibition in 2010).
But these overly erotic passions did not please the ‘tight asses’. Jean Delville called Lambeaux ‘the Michelangelo of the brook’ and explains that he ‘gagged at the sight of a group of fat, nauseating back-alley hetaïres’. We know what happened next. The pavilion was closed until recently. The most piquant thing was when King Baudouin offered a piece of the Cinquantenaire Park to build a mosque and the clerics discovered with horror the healthy sensuality of these bacchantes.
Jef Lambeaux had other setbacks. The Nymph of Bocq, which now stands in front of the Town Hall in Saint-Gilles, remained in its cellars until 1976 because of 19th century « good spirits » who considered it too indecent. The Bite Fauna in the Parc de la Boverie in Liège was once again a scandal, initially rejected by the vicar Schoolmeesters, who considered the naked and embracing couple biting each other to be scandalous. The work was sent back and broke on the way. The State nevertheless had another copy made.
The thirty or so bronzes and plaster casts exhibited at the Hôtel de Ville de Saint-Gilles show the eclecticism and power of Jef Lambeaux. Inspired by Rodin, he announced Maillol, Rik Wouters and Bourdelle. Baroque and romantic, he is already an expressionist. He also likes to sculpt himself as a cursed artist, which he was not.
Jef Lambeaux, born of a Walloon father and a Flemish mother (he wrote phonetically in both languages!), was very Belgian in his sense of mixing and blending influences to recreate a world in the style of Thyl Ulenspiegel and Dionysian joys. Jef Lambeaux became famous, stirred up controversy, and had the intelligence to sell his works in reduced size to the bourgeoisie. He was very Belgian, almost surrealist, already a little Delvoye or Fabre. Saint-Gilles had promised him a museum if he left enough works. But these had disappeared from a neighbour’s house and were destroyed by bombing during the Second World War. However, the Hôtel de Ville kept some plaster casts and bronzes in its cellars.
Works in the public space:
- The Kiss 1881 – Royal Museum of Fine Arts – Antwerp
- Silvius Brabo Fountain – 1887 – Antwerp
- Bust of General Albert Goblet d’Alviella 1887 – Court-Saint-Étienne
- Le Dénicheur d’aigle ca. 1890, Royal Museum of Ancient Art in Brussels
- Prometheus in chains 1896 – Zoological garden – Antwerp
- The bitten faun 1897 – Brussels World Exhibition
- Homage to Darwin 1898 – Zoological garden – Antwerp
- The Mad Song 1898 – Brussels
- The Bitten Faun 1900 – Paris World Fair
- The Goddess of Bocq – 1900 – Saint-Gilles Town Hall
- The Spring – 1901 – Mariemont Park – Morlanwelz
- The Triumph of the Woman – 1901 – Mariemont Park – Morlanwelz
- The Abundance – 1902 – Mariemont Park – Morlanwelz
- The bitten faun – 1903 – Liège exhibition
- Monument to the combatants – 1830 – 1905 – Tienen
- The eagle hunter – 1925 – Parc du Château – Enghien
- Galileo in white marble – gardens of the Provincial School of Horticulture in La Hulpe
- Pavillon des Passions humaines, 1899, is one of Victor Horta’s earliest buildings, specially constructed in 1899 in a classical style to house Jef Lambeaux’s monumental high relief Les Passions humaines, which evokes the pleasures and misfortunes of humanity. Three days after the opening, the work, which was daring for its time and depicts embracing bodies, provoked a real moral scandal. The open pavilion behind the façade columns was walled up and closed with a metal door
Today it is open on certain dates and is part of the Royal Museums of Art and History.
- Dimensions : 102 x 50 x 23 cm
- White Carrara marble sculpture.
- End of 19th century.
- BENEZIT E. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs. Nouvelle édition. Librairie Gründ, 1976. 10 volumes, Tome6 p399.
- PIRON Paul. Dictionnaire des artistes plasticiens de Belgique des XIXe et XXe siècles. Editions Art in Belgium, Ohain-Lasne, 2003, 2 volumes, Tome2 p16.
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