Charles Auguste Fraikin (14 June 1817 – 22 November 1893) was a Belgian neoclassical sculptor.

Life

Charles Auguste Fraikin was born in Herentals, Belgium, on 14 June 1817. He took drawing lessons from the age of twelve at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. When he was thirteen, his father died. Fraikin therefore opted for practical training as a pharmacist. He worked in the pharmacy of Auguste-Donat De Hemptinne, brother-in-law of François-Joseph Navez, painter and director of the

Brussels Academy The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Brussels (french: Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts - École supérieure des Arts de la Ville de Bruxelles (ARBA-ESA), nl, Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Brussel) is an art school established in Br ...

, who discovered his talent and encouraged him to continue in the arts. At the in 1845, Fraikin won a gold medal for the sculpture ''L'amour captif''. Marble versions of it were later placed in the

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They include six museums: the Oldmasters Muse ...

and the Hermitage. It brought him to the attention of the Belgian royal family, which led to new commissions. Among other things, he made a statue of King Leopold. In addition to being a sculptor, Fraikin was also curator of the sculpture department of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. At the end of his life he had donated his collection of plaster models to the city of Herentals. He witnessed the opening of his museum in the . He died on 22 November 1893 in Schaarbeek. After a church funeral he was buried close to the choir of .

Incomplete list of works

Brussels: *Allegory of the city of Brussels (1848), *Monument to the counts of

Egmont Egmont may refer to: * Egmont Group, a media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark * Egmond family (often spelled "Egmont"), an influential Dutch family, lords of the town of Egmond ** Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522–1568), the bes ...

and Hornes (1864), Sablon *Eleven portal images for the Brussels Town Hall *Mausoleum of

Félix de Mérode Philippe Félix Balthasar Otto Ghislain, Count de Merode (13 April 1791 – 7 February 1857), known as ''Félix de Merode'', was a Belgian politician. Biography Born in Maastricht, Merode's father was mayor of Brussels during the period in whi ...

in the

Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula nl, Kathedraal van Sint-Michiel en Sint-Goedele , native_name_lang = , image = Saints-Michel-et-Gudule Luc Viatour.jpg , imagesize = 200px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape ...

*Funerary statue of Ferdinand Nicolay at

Laeken Cemetery Laeken Cemetery (french: Cimetière de Laeken, nl, Begraafplaats van Laken) in Brussels, Belgium, is the city's oldest cemetery still in function and the resting place of the Belgian Royal Family. It is known as the ''Belgian Père Lachaise' ...

Dendermonde Dendermonde (; french: Termonde, ) is a city in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. The municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, Mespelare, Oudegem, Schoonaarde, and Sint-Gillis-b ...

: *Monument of Father Pierre-Jean De Smet (1878),Pater Pieter Jan De Smet (Dendermonde)
/ref> Ostend: *Mausoleum for Louise of Orléans (1859),

Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk (Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul), the main church of Ostend, Belgium, is a Roman Catholic Neo-Gothic church. It is built on the ashes of a previous church that occupied the site. King Leopold II enthusiastically su ...

Gallery

Fraikin Triomphe de Bacchus 01.jpg, Triumph of Bacchus Charles-Auguste Fraikin, Le Sommeil ou Morphée (détail) 08.jpg, Sleep or Morpheus Dendermonde de smet sj 2.JPG, Statue of Pieter-Jan de Smet Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk 10003.jpg, Tomb of Queen Louise BXSL12.jpg, Detail of the monument to Egmont and Horne Bruxelles ratusz 3.jpg, City Hall Portal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraikin, Charles-Auguste 1817 births 1893 deaths 19th-century Belgian sculptors 19th-century Belgian male artists Neoclassical sculptors Belgian art curators People from Herentals

Life

Incomplete list of works

Gallery

Further reading

References