Charles van der Stappen (also Karl van der Stappen; 19 September 1843 – 21 October 1910), was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, born in

Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Saint-Josse-ten-Noode () or Sint-Joost-ten-Node (), often simply called Saint-Josse or Sint-Joost, is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the Ci ...

Life

Educated at the

Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts 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 B ...

in Brussels (1859–1868), van der Stappen's contribution to the

Brussels Salon Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

was "The Faun's Toilet" of 1869, and thereafter he began to produce work of a high and novel order in every class of sculpture, and soon, along with Paul de Vigne, became recognized as the leader of the section of the new Belgian school of sculpture which infused models derived from Greek and Roman models and the art of the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

with naturalistic detail and fleeting action. His best-known funeral monuments are those to

Alexandre Gendebien Alexandre Joseph Célestin Gendebien (Mons, 4 May 1789 – Brussels, 6 December 1869) was a lawyer in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and later Belgium, where he also became minister of Justice. He played an important role during the Belgia ...

(1874) and Baron Coppens, at Sheel (1875). His statues include ''

William the Silent William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...

,'' set up at the Petit Sablon Square, and two in the Brussels Museum, ''The Man with the Sword,'' and "The Sphinx". The bronze group ''Ompdrailles'' was acquired by the Belgian government (1892). In 1893 the sculptor began his collaboration with

Constantin Meunier Constantin Meunier (12 April 1831 – 4 April 1905) was a Belgian painter and sculptor. 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 moder ...

for the elaborate decoration of the

Botanical Garden of Brussels The Botanical Garden of Brussels (french: Jardin botanique de Bruxelles, nl, Kruidtuin van Brussel) is a former botanical garden in Brussels, Belgium. It was created in 1826 and stood on the Rue Royale/Koningsstraat in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, ...

, coordinating many other sculptors for the production of some 52 sculptures for its grounds. The result of the connection may be seen in the group ''The Builders of Cities'' which is strongly imbued with the feeling and types of Meunier's sympathetic figures of workers. Among his students were

Ilse Twardowski-Conrat Ilse von Twardowski or Ilse Twardowski-Conrat (1880–1942) was an Austrian sculptor. She created many noted sculptures. She took her own life in 1942 as a result of the Holocaust. Life Twardowski was born in Vienna in 1880. Her father was a merc ...

, Helene Zelezny-Scholz,

Rik Wouters Hendrik Emil (Rik) Wouters (21 August 1882 – 11 July 1916) was a Belgium, Belgian painter, sculptor and draughtsman. Wouters produced 200 paintings, drawings and sculptures in his 34 years before his illness-caused death. he died partway th ...

Paul Du Bois Paul Du Bois (; 1859–1938) was a Belgian sculptor and medalist, born in Aywaille, and died in Uccle, a municipality of Brussels (Belgium). Du Bois was a student of Eugène Simonis and Charles van der Stappen. He studied from 1877 to 1883 ...

, João Turin, and

Victor Rousseau Victor Rousseau ( Feluy, 16 December 1865 – Forest, 17 March 1954) also known as M. Victor Rousseau, was a Belgian sculptor and medalist. Biography Rousseau was of Walloon heritage and descended from a line of stonemasons. He began carv ...

, who would succeed him as director of the

. His student Ilse Twardowski-Conrat received the commission for his funerary monument after he died in 1910.

Work

* Decoration on the Palais des Postes, Brussels, 1872 * Statues for the Alhambra Theatre, Brussels, 1874 *

Caryatid A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...

es for the house of the Ghent architect Louis de Curte (1817–1891), 1874 * Pediment sculpture ''Orchestration'', one of the five pediment sculptures at the

Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (french: Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Provid ...

, for architect

Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar (1811–1880) was a Belgian architect. He is the father of the Cluysenaar family. Family He was born in Kampen in the Netherlands as a son of Joannes Kluysenaar and Garidenia Kluysenaar, a Dutch family of archite ...

, 1875 * Noble bronze group, ''The Teaching of Art,'' on the facade of the

Palace of Fine Arts The Palace of Fine Arts is a monumental structure located in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, originally constructed for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition to exhibit works of art. Completely rebuilt from 1964 to ...

, Brussels, 1880 * Bronze of the painter Émile Sacré which was presented at the exhibition of

Les XX ''Les XX'' ( French; "''Les Vingt''"; ; ) was a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors, formed in 1883 by the Brussels lawyer, publisher, and entrepreneur Octave Maus. For ten years, they held an annual exhibition of their ar ...

in 1884 * ''St. Michael'', for the Gothic Hall of the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, Brussels, 1885 * ''La Mort d'Ompdrailles'' monument, Brussels, depicting characters from novelist Leon Cladel, with base by architect

Victor Horta Victor Pierre Horta (; Victor, Baron Horta after 1932; 6 January 1861 – 8 September 1947) was a Belgian architect and designer, and one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement. His Hôtel Tassel in Brussels, built in 1892–93, is often ...

, 1895–1897 * Bronze monument to painter

Théodore Baron Théodore Baron (19 August 1840, Ixelles - 4 September 1899, Saint-Servais) was a Belgian landscape painter in the Realistic style. Biography He was initially trained in the Academic style; first by Hippolyte de la Charlerie in Brussels, the ...

(1840–1899),

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

, 1903 * Figures of

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,

and

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

for the arches of the

Cinquantenaire The Parc du Cinquantenaire (French language, French for "Park of the Fiftieth Anniversary", pronounced ) or Jubelpark (Flemish language, Dutch for "Jubilee Park", pronounced ) is a large public, urban park of in the easternmost part of the Br ...

, circa 1905

Gallery

File:Mort_d'Ompdrailles.JPG, ''Mort d'Ompdrailles'' File:Bâtisseurs de ville.JPG, ''Bâtisseurs de ville'' File:Arcades Cinquantenaire Anvers.JPG, ''Arcades Cinquantenaire (Brussels) Anvers'' File:Musée Cinquantenaire Sphynx mystérieux.jpg, ''Le Sphinx mystérieux'' File:Le Temps.JPG, ''Time'', bronze (Jardin Botanique National de Belgique,

Meise Meise () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Meise proper and Wolvertem (a ''deelgemeente''), and, several smaller villages like Sint-Brixius-Rode, Oppem, Meusegem, Impde/I ...

)

References

Attribution: *

Sources

* ''Charles van der Stappen'', by

Camille Lemonnier Antoine Louis Camille Lemonnier (24 March 1844 – 13 June 1913) was a Belgian writer, poet and journalist. He was a member of the Symbolist ''La Jeune Belgique'' group, but his best known works are realist. His first work was ''Salon de Bruxelle ...

; * ''Les Artistes belges contemporains'', by E.L. de Taye; * ''The Renaissance of Sculpture in Belgium'', by OG Destrée (London, 1895). {{DEFAULTSORT:van der Stappen, Charles 1843 births 1910 deaths People from Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Belgian architectural sculptors 20th-century Belgian sculptors 19th-century Belgian sculptors 19th-century Belgian male artists Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts alumni Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts faculty 20th-century Belgian male artists