Frans Huygelen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
F. Huygelen (1922). Allegorical representation of an African woman under the title: Belgie zoekt nieuwe arbeidsvelden / L'expansion belge. Royal Museum for Central Africa

Frans Huygelen , (born August 19, 1878 in Antwerp , † November 5, 1940 in Uccle / Ukkel ), was a Belgian sculptor.

Life

Huygelen was born in Antwerp to Carolus Huygelen and Catharina s'Heeren. He received his training at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and then from 1897 at the Hoger Institute of Fine Arts in the sculpture studio of Thomas Vinçotte .

In 1897 Huygelen created a Tannhauser sculpture and a Beethoven bust, which received attention in art circles. At the same time he took part for the first time in the competition for the Belgian Rome Prize (Prijs van Rome / Prix ​​de Rome ) in the sculpture category, but did not pass the entrance exam. In 1900 he participated again on the subject of "Adam and Eve find the body of Abel" and won the prize with a bas-relief . From 1903 to 1905 he lived, intermittently, in Italy and toured Paris and London . On January 30, 1904, he married Jenny Spaapen (1878-1962) in Mechelen . He then settled in Schaarbeek and, since 1908, in Ukkel. In 1920 he became a professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. In 1940 he died in Ukkel.

At a commemorative exhibition in Brussels in 1941, the bronze Prometheus was shown in addition to his numerous works in marble. In 1953 a monument was erected in his honor in Wolvendael Park in Ukkel. It contains the marble frieze "Spring Allegory", which he created himself, inserted into a rectangular wall construction based on a design by the architect Jos Evrard.

Create

He created numerous commissioned works, especially war monuments after the First World War , as well as monuments to General Albert Thys , General Henri Alexis Brialmont and Count Charles Frederic Auguste Woeste . He also portrayed King Albert, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Karel and various politicians, industrialists and colonial magnates. He designed medallions and at the end of his life mainly occupied himself with painting.

Prometheus

This larger-than-life, standing bronze male nude was created by Huygelen in 1905. The work of art last belonged to Hélène and Lucienne Brunin, daughters of the well-known Belgian painter Léon Brunin . In order to have it set up "in admiration for the great master Richard Wagner under the sky of Bayreuth" the sisters donated their heirloom to the city on Wagner's 150th birthday. Since July 9, 1963, the statue has been welcoming visitors at the entrance to the festival park with its arms outstretched to the side . Karin Neukam wrote about Huygelens' creation: "His Prometheus is the powerful, proud and ingenious Titan who is connected to the people he created, teaches them the beginnings of culture and makes them happy with fire against the will of Zeus. In his right With his raised arm he holds the pithy stalk of a giant fennel, with which he brings the fire from Olympus to mortals as the fourth element to earth, air and water. With his left hand Prometheus originally held a bundle of lightning, which was stolen from him overnight in 1970. It has not been replaced until today. " (Festspielnachrichten 1993 'The Flying Dutchman', published by “Nordbayerischer Kurier”, pp. 32-34) Stylistically, Prometheus corresponds to the bronze portraits of Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner and Cosima Wagner in the garden of the Festival Park, which Arno Breker allegedly commissioned the city of Bayreuth from 1955 to 1979. (Breker had already created the Wagner bust in 1939.) In 1963, Bayreuth citizens were bothered by the figure's nudity (they lack a fig leaf), but not by the fact that it arouses associations with the monumental sculptures “Wehrmacht” and “Party” Arno Breker in the entrance area ("Ehrenhof") of Hitler's Reich Chancellery .

Works (selection)

  • Prometheus (1905)
Frans Huygelen. Prometheus. Bronze sculpture (1905). Bayreuth, Park at the Festspielhaus. Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation ID D: 4-62-000-69
  • Bust of Emile de Laveleye (1913), Palace of the Academies
  • Bust of Philip, Count of Flanders (1914), Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Brussels
  • Vine tendrils (1915), Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Brussels
  • Belgie zoekt nieuwe arbeidsvelden / L'expansion belge (Belgium seeks new fields of activity / expansion the Belgian way, 1922), Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren
  • Monuments commemorating the First World War in Rekem (Lanaken) in 1922, in Péruwelz in 1924, in Rossignol in 1925, in Dinant in 1927, and memorials to the fallen former students of the Saint-Louis Institute in Brussels in 1928.
  • Bust of Charles Woeste (1926), Ixelles / Elsene
  • Memorial to General Albert Thys (1927), Jubelpark Brussels

literature

  • H. Brunin: Huygelen Frans . In: J. Van Lennep (Ed.): De 19de-eeuwse Belgische beeldhouwkunst . Exhibition catalog. Generale Bank, Brussels, 5 October to 15 December 1990. Brussels 1990, p. 451 .
  • C. Engelen and M. Marx: Beeldhouwkunst in Belgie vanaf 1830 . In: General Reichsarchiv and Reichsarchiv der Provinces, Studia 90 . tape 2 . Brussels 2002, p. 912 .
  • JP Lissens, A. Van Ruyssevelt: Frans Huygelen. Beeldhouwer 1878-1940 . In: Publications of the State Library with the Archive and Museum of Flemish Cultural Life . tape 29/30 . Antwerp 1990.
  • L.Smolderen: Les médailles du sculpteur Frans Huygelen (1878–1940) . In: Monte Artium. Journal of the Royal Library of Belgium . tape 6 , 2013, p. 121-140 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ . Staff and studio news . In: Art for All . 16th year, 1900, p. 124 .
  2. ↑ Karin Neukam: Olympic flame at the foot of the Green Hill. Prometheus came to the Festival Park 30 years ago / Two sisters from Brussels donated the artwork to the city of Bayreuth. In: Heimatbote . Monthly supplement “Nordbayerischer Kurier”. 26th year, no. 5 . Bayreuth 1993.
  3. ↑ It was a small thing yesterday for three strong men to bring the bronze 'Prometheus' to its place in the Festspielhaus Park, which was selected for him by the building committee of the city council. In: Franconian press . July 10, 1963.
  4. ↑ Information boards for the Breker busts. Works by the controversial sculptor are supplemented with information. Retrieved September 19, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Birgit Bressa: After-life of antiquity. Classic images of the body in the Nazi sculpture Arno Brekers. In: Dissertation. Phil. Fac. University of Heidelberg. 2001, p. Fig. 124 , accessed on November 5, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Prometheus and his viewers . In: Bayreuther Tagblatt . Bayreuth July 12, 1963, p. 5 .


personal data
SURNAME Huygelen, Frans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH August 19, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Antwerp
DATE OF DEATH November 5, 1940
Place of death Uccle / Ukkel