1st Edition

National Identity and Nineteenth-Century Franco-Belgian Sculpture

By Jana Wijnsouw Copyright 2018
    284 Pages 65 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    282 Pages 65 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book elaborates on the social and cultural phenomenon of national schools during the nineteenth century, via the less studied field of sculpture and using Belgium as a case study. The role, importance of, and emphasis on certain aspects of national identity evolved throughout the century, while a diverse array of criteria were indicated by commissioners, art critics, or artists that supposedly constituted a "national sculpture." By confronting the role and impact of the four most crucial actors within the artistic field (politics, education, exhibitions, public commissions) with a linear timeframe, this book offers a chronological as well as a thematic approach. Artists covered include Guillaume Geefs, Eugène Simonis, Charles Van der Stappen, Julien Dillens, Paul Devigne, Constantin Meunier, and George Minne.

    List of Tables  List of Figures  List of Abbreviations  Acknowledgments  Introduction  PART I 1830–1850: Belgium’s ‘Big Bang’ and the Emergence of Its Sculpture School  1 Politics  1.1 Sculpture for a New Country: Art as a Unifier  2 Education  2.1 Defying ‘Enemies of Our True Nationality’: The Academy of Antwerp  2.2 Enemies within the Borders of the Nation: Antwerp vs. Brussels  2.3 Out with the Old, in with the New: The Academy of Brussels  2.4 Outside the Classroom, into the Studio  3 Exhibitions  3.1 The Belgian Salons: An Exclusive Party  4 Public Commissions  4.1 Guillaume Geefs, ‘le seul sculpteur belge’  4.1.1 General Augustin Belliard, ‘plus Belge que Français’?  4.1.2 Geefs’ Peter Paul Rubens: ‘King of the Flemish Painter School’  4.1.3 A Battle of Heroes: Rubens vs. Belliard  4.2 Louis-Eugène Simonis, ‘père de la sculpture belge moderne’  4.2.1 Simon Stevin, an Ambiguous Choice  4.2.2 Godfrey of Bouillon, a Belgian Hero Ahorse 4.3 A Battle of Sculptors: Geefs vs. Simonis  PART II 1850–1880: A Foreign Prevalence Non-Belgian Sculpture  5 Politics 5.1 Sculpture Midway through the Century: Art as a Sign of Unity  6 Education  6.1 The Academies: Expansion and Consolidation  6.2 Beyond Academies and Borders: The Private Studio  7 Exhibitions  7.1 Sculpture at the Salons: The Road to National and International Fame and Claim  7.2 ‘National Schools’ at the International Exhibitions: Constructed (or) Reality?  7.2.1 Cultural Shards and Patches  7.2.2 The ‘boulangerie nationale’  7.3 Jean Baptiste Carpeaux in Belgium: Visiting, Exhibiting, Inspiring  8 Public Commissions  8.1 ‘Une question d’art ou une question de nationalité?’ 8.2 French Sculptors in Belgium  8.2.1 A Clash at the Bourse of Brussels  8.2.2 ‘A Good-for-Nothing [Who] Will Soon Be Disposed Of’: Auguste Rodin in Belgium  8.2.3 Carrier-Belleuse in Belgium: The Sequel  8.2.4 Jules Bertin: ‘enfant adoptif de Tongres’, or a Frenchman?  8.3 Sculpture at the Palace of Justice: A Lesson Learned?  8.4 Une Question d’Art et une Question de Nationalité  PART III 1880–1895: A Renaissance of Belgian Sculpture  9 Politics 9.1 Artistic Prosperity and Economic Distress 9.2 Building for King and Country  10 Education  10.1 Antwerp: The ‘Flemish’ Academy  10.2 Van der Stappen’s Reign at the Academy of Brussels  10.3 Finding Native Heritage Abroad  11 Exhibitions 11.1 The Old Ways: The Salons 11.2 Alternative Stages: L’Essor, Les XX, and La Libre Esthétique  11.3 National Success on an International Stage: The Paris Salons  11.4 Sculpture at the International Exhibitions: Yesterday’s ‘National Schools’?  12 Public Commissions  12.1 ‘Dans l’esprit des sculptures du grand Opéra de Paris’: Two Statues for the Royal Museums of Fine Arts  12.2 The Renaissance of Sculpture in Belgium  12.3 Sculpting a(n) (Inter)National and Local Identity  PART IV 1895–1916: International Belgian Sculpture  13 Politics  13.1 King Leopold II, Belgian Chryselephantine Sculptures, and a French Garden  13.2 A New Political Movement, a New Sculpture  14 Education  14.1 Ever Looking Back: The Antwerp Academy  14.2 ‘La nature, c’est moi qui l’enseigne!’: Van der Stappen vs. Dillens in Brussels  14.3 A Need for Change: The Education Abroad  15 Exhibitions  15.1 Salons: The Old and the New  15.2 ‘La France aux Français!’: The Paris Salons  15.3 Contradicting Storylines: Belgians at the International Exhibitions  15.3.1 Paris—1900  15.3.2 Ghent—1913  15.4 Meunier and Minne Exhibiting Abroad 15.5 Sculpture in Exile: Later Exhibitions 16 Public Commissions  16.1 Public Identity: Locality vs. Nationality 16.1.1 Le Débardeur, a Local Hero  16.1.2 Art Criticism Revised: Walloon Sculpture?  16.2 ‘Qu’importe la nationalité de l’artiste?’: Meunier’s Zola  16.3 Multiple Identities Bibliography Index

    Biography

    Jana Wijnsouw holds a PhD from the Department of Art History, Music, and Theatre Studies at Ghent University.