Charles Auguste Fraikin

Charles Auguste Fraikin, 1860.

Charles Auguste Fraikin (born June 14, 1817 in Herentals , † November 22, 1893 in Schaerbeek ) was a Belgian, neoclassical sculptor .

Life

At the age of twelve Fraikin took drawing lessons at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. When he was thirteen his father died, so he chose practical training by becoming a pharmacist . Fraikin worked in the pharmacy of François-Joseph Navez's brother-in-law , who was a painter and director of the Brussels Academy. This discovered his talent and encouraged him to devote himself repeatedly to art and to deepen his knowledge.

Fraikin won a gold medal for his portrait L'amour captif at his first exhibition in 1839 . Marble copies of this work were later exhibited in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts and the Hermitage.

On the occasion of a national exhibition that took place in Brussels in 1845, Fraikin was sponsored by the Belgian royal family, which brought him new orders. For example, he created a portrait of King Leopold.

In addition to his work as a sculptor, he was also the curator of the sculpture department in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts and received several awards. a. Knight of the Legion of Honor.

Fraikin created many classicist, later also romantic works. His best known is the fountain of the Counts of Egmont and Horne in Brussels.

• Works
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  Fountain of the Counts of Egmont and Horne in Brussels

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  Statue of Pieter-Jan de Smet in Dendermonde

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  Freedom of assembly at the foot of the Congress Column in Brussels

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  Entrance to the City Hall in Brussels

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  Le Sommeil ou Morphée in the Royal Museum Mariemont in the Belgian province of Hainaut

literature

• Friedrich Oetker: The sculptor Fraikin . In: Westermanns (year book of the illustrated German) monthly books . Vol. 8 (1860), pp. 551-555.

Web links

Commons : Charles August Fraikin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files