Hippolyte Fierens-Gevaert

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Hippolyte Fierens-Gevaert , born Hippolyte Fierens , (* 1870 in Brussels , Belgium ; † December 16, 1926 in Liege , Belgium) was a Belgian opera singer, professor of art history and art theory , art critic , writer and chief curator of the Royal Museums for Art and History in Brussels.

Career

Gustave van de Woestyne - Portrait de Hippolyte Fierens-Gevaert (1870-1926) - lithograph - Royal Library of Belgium - S.III 76733.jpg

Hippolyte Fierens-Gevaert was born in Brussels in 1870 during the reign of King Leopold II . Nothing is known about his youth.

At the age of 17 he enrolled at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels to study music. He won the Premier Prix de Chant in 1890 . In the same year, 1890, he married Jacqueline Marthe Gevaert, the daughter of the Belgian composer and music writer François-Auguste Gevaert . He then took up an engagement at the opera in Lille ( France ), but had to end his career as an opera singer due to damage to his voice.

After this misfortune, the couple moved to Paris . There he began a new career as a journalist, writer and art critic. During this time he changed his surname from "Fierens" to "Fierens-Gevaert" by taking the family name of his wife. From 1893 onwards he wrote articles for several journals, including the Journal des Débats . He also wrote various essays . For Essai sur l'art contemporain , which was published in 1897, he received an award from the Académie française and for his essay La tristesse contemporaine: essai sur les grands courants moraux et intellectuels du XIXe siècle , which was published in 1899, an award from the Académie des sciences morales et politiques . In 1901 he published Psychologie d'une ville, essai sur Bruges , in which he examined the artistic development of the Flemish city ​​of Bruges .

In 1902 he returned to Belgium to take up a position as professor of art theory at the University of Liège (ULg). In the following years he was also entrusted with the subjects of art philosophy, art history of the Renaissance and modern times, and in 1906 music history. In 1903 he participated in the government reform to regulate higher education with regard to art history in Belgium. This led, among other things, to the establishment of the Société des cours d'art et d'archéologie in Brussels (today Institut supérieur d'Histoire de l'Art et d'Archéologie de Bruxelles ). In addition to his position at the University of Liège, he held an apprenticeship at this college. At the same time he was actively involved in international exhibitions, in Belgium and in the cities of Turin , Milan and Venice . In this context he acted from 1907 to 1926 in Venice as the official delegate for the Belgian section at the Biennale di Venezia - an international art exhibition in Venice that has been held there every two years since 1895. Fierens-Gevaert was appointed Secretary to the Board of Directors of the Brussels Royal Museums of Painting and Sculpture of Belgium in 1907.

In 1907 he published L'art au XXe siècle et son expression en Belgique . Between 1905 and 1909 he wrote two studies on early Flemish art: La Renaissance septentrionale et les premiers maîtres des Flandres (1905) and Les primitifs flamands (1908–1909). A revised version of the studies appeared between 1927 and 1929.

Fierens-Gevaert was appointed professor at the newly founded Institut supérieur d'Histoire de l'Art et d'Archéologie at the University of Liège in 1910.

In 1914 he published an article on art history education in Belgium. He participated in the International Conference of Art History in Rome (1912) and later in Paris (1921).

Fierens-Gevaert became a member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Museums of Art and History in 1914. After the First World War he rose to the position of chief curator there in 1919. In his role he was responsible for the reorganization of the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels. For the purpose of art-historical education he founded a documentation department, including a library, magazines and the photographic collection. He also saw the museum as a place where a large audience, including young people, were invited to enjoy its beauty and learn about art. The first guided school courses took place in 1920. The Diffusion artistique des Musées Royaux was founded in 1924 and is responsible for organizing guided tours and lectures. In this context, temporary exhibitions were regularly organized. At the Van Eyck Bouts exhibition in 1920, the famous Ghent altarpiece ( winged altar ) was exhibited, which was created by Jan van Eyck and probably his brother Hubert van Eyck . This happened after the wing panels returned to Belgium as a result of the Versailles Peace Treaty and reunification with the central panels.

In 1924 he published Les Très Belles Heures de Jean de France, duc de Berry . For this study he won the Prix ​​quinquennal de critique historique et littéraire in 1925 .

Fierens-Gevaert died in Liège in 1926 at the age of 56.

The three-volume Histoire de la peinture flamande des origines à la fin du XVe siècle was published posthumously between 1927 and 1929. The first two volumes were subtitled: Les créateurs de l'art flamand and Les continuateurs de Van Eyck . They were written by Fierens-Gevaert himself. His earlier work, which he revised, served him for this purpose. The third volume, La maturité de l'art flamand , was compiled by his son Paul Fierens, who used his father's notes and earlier work.

Works (selection)

  • 1897: Essai sur l'art contemporain
  • 1899: La tristesse contemporaine: essai sur les grands courants moraux et intellectuels du XIXe siècle
  • 1901: Psychologie d'une ville, essai sur Bruges
  • 1905: La Renaissance septentrionale et les premiers maîtres des Flandres
  • 1907: L'art au XXe siècle et son expression en Belgique
  • 1908–1909: Les primitifs flamands (2 volumes)
  • 1924: Les Très Belles Heures de Jean de France, duc de Berry
  • 1927–1929: Histoire de la peinture flamande des origines à la fin du XVe siècle (3 volumes)

Trivia

In 1927 Leo van Puyvelde succeeded Hippolyte Fierens-Gevaert as chief curator of the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels and professor of Renaissance art history at the University of Liège. Fierens-Gevaert's son, Paul Fierens, taught art theory and modern art at the same university.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on Hippolyte Fierens-Gevaert in the database of the Bibliothèque nationale de France .
  2. ^ Fierens-Gevaert, Hippolyte: Essai sur l'art contemporain Paris, Alcan, 1903
  3. ^ Fierens-Gevaert, Hippolyte: La tristesse contemporaine: essai sur les grands courants moraux et intellectuels du XIXe siècle , Paris, 1899
  4. ^ Fierens-Gevaert, Hippolyte: Psychologie d'une ville, essai sur Bruges , Paris, Alcan, 1901
  5. ^ Fierens-Gevaert, Hippolyte: La Renaissance septentrionale et les premiers maîtres des Flandres , Librairie Nationale d'Art et d'Histoire, 1905
  6. ^ Hippolyte Fierens-Gevaert, Paul Fierens, François August Gevaert: Les primitifs flamands , Volume 1, G. Van Oest et Cie., 1908
  7. ^ Fierens-Gevaert, Hippolyte: Les primitifs flamands , Volume 2, G. Van Oest, 1909
  8. ^ Fierens-Gevaert, Hippolyte: Les Très Belles Heures de Jean de France, duc de Berry , 1924
  9. ↑ Histoire de la peinture flamande des origines à la fin du XVe siècle: Les continuateurs de Van Eyck , Volume 2, G. Van Oest, 1928
  10. ↑ Histoire de la peinture flamande des origines à la fin du XVe siècle: La maturité de l'art flamand , Volume 3, G. Van Oest, 1929
personal data
SURNAME Fierens-Gevaert, Hippolyte
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fierens, Hippolyte (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian opera singer, university professor, art critic, writer and chief curator
DATE OF BIRTH 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Brussels , Belgium
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1926
Place of death Liege , Belgium