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Constantin Meunier | |
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 Self-portrait, 1885 | |
| Born | (1831-04-12)12 April 1831 Etterbeek, Belgium |
| Died | 4 April 1905(1905-04-04) (aged 73) Ixelles, Belgium |
| Occupation(s) | Painter, sculptor |
Constantin Meunier (French pronunciation:[kɔ̃stɑ̃tɛ̃mønje]; 12 April 1831 – 4 April 1905) was a Belgianpainter andsculptor. He made an important contribution to the development of modern art by elevating the image of the industrial worker, docker and miner to an icon of modernity. His work is a reflection of the industrial, social and political developments of his day and represents a compassionate and committed view of man and the world.[1]
Constantin Meunier was born in the traditionally working-class area ofEtterbeek inBrussels. His family was poor and suffered from the negative economic impact caused by theBelgian Revolution which had taken place the year before Meunier's birth. Meunier's father committed suicide when he was just four years old.[2]
He began studying sculpture at the age of 14 at theAcademy of Fine Arts in Brussels in September 1845.[3] He studied under the sculptorLouis Jehotte (1804–84) from 1848. He also attended from 1852 the private studio of the sculptorCharles-Auguste Fraikin.[4] While he encountered modestly success as a sculptor, his encounter withGustave Courbet'ssocial realist paintingThe Stone Breakers in 1851 caused him to doubt the ability of sculpture to adequate represent the contemporary social and artistic issues that were of concern to him. He therefore gave up sculpture in favour of painting which he practised almost exclusively for the next thirty years.[2]
Meunier's first exhibit was a plaster sketch,The Garland, shown at theBrussels Salon in 1851. His first important painting,The Salle St Roch (1857), was followed by a series of paintings includingA Trappist Funeral (1860),Trappists Ploughing (1863), in collaboration withAlfred Verwee,Divine Service at the Monastery of La Trappe (1871) and episodes of theGerman Peasants' War (1878),[5] as well as of Belgium's own historicalPeasants' War.
About 1880 Meunier was commissioned to illustrate those parts ofCamille Lemonnier's description of Belgium inLe Tour du monde which referred to miners and factory-workers, and producedIn the Factory,Smithery at Cockerill's,Melting Steel at the Factory at Seraing (1882),Returning from the Pit, andThe Broken Crucible (1884).[5]
In 1882 he was employed by the government to copyPedro de Campaña'sDescent from the Cross atSeville, and in Spain he painted such characteristic pictures asThe Café Concert,Procession on Good Friday, andThe Tobacco Factory at Seville (Brussels Gallery). On his return to Belgium he was appointed professor at the Louvain Academy of Fine Arts.[5]
In 1885 he returned to sculpture and producedThe Puddler,The Hammerman (1886),Firedamp (1889, Brussels Gallery),Le Débardeur (modeled 1885; many castings made 1889–1905),Ecce Homo (1891),The Old Mine-Horse (1891),The Mower (1892),The Glebe (1892), the monument toFather Damien at Louvain (1893),Puddler at the Furnace (1893), the scheme of decoration for theBotanical Garden of Brussels in collaboration with the sculptorCharles van der Stappen (1893),The Horse at the Pond, in the square in the north-east quarter of Brussels, and two unfinished works, theMonument to Labour and theÉmile Zola monument, in collaboration with the French sculptorAlexandre Charpentier.[5]
TheMonument to Labour, which was acquired by the State for the Brussels Gallery, comprises four stone bas-reliefs:Industry,The Mine,Harvest, and theHarbour; four bronze statues:The Sower,The Smith,The Miner, and theAncestor; and a bronze group,Maternity.[5]
He was one of the co-founders of theSociété Libre des Beaux-Arts of Brussels and was a member of theInternational Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers.[6]
Meunier was afreemason and a member of the lodgeLes Amis Philanthropes of theGrand Orient of Belgium in Brussels.[7]
Meunier died inIxelles on 4 April 1905.[8]
In 1939, the Constantin Meunier Museum dedicated to his work was opened in the last house in which Meunier lived and worked, inIxelles,Brussels. Today about 150 of his works are displayed there.[9]M - Museum Leuven also holds a number of important works by Meunier,[10] as does Brussels'Fin-de-Siècle Museum. TheGalleria d’arte moderna di Milano, one of the most important modern art collection in Italy, holds “The fisherman of Ostend”, 1850.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Meunier, Constantin".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 315.
Media related toConstantin Meunier at Wikimedia CommonsConstituent museums of theRoyal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium | ||
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