Frans Hens (1 August 1856,

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,

– 11 May 1928, Antwerp) was a Belgian

post-impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...

painter, draftsman and printmaker. He was one of the first European artists to paint in

Sub-Saharan Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African co ...

Africa.

Life and work

Hens was born 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,

and began his studies there under Jacob Jacobs at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1872.''Kunst in de wandelgangen'', Lannoo, 2006 - . He went to America in 1873, but returned the following year to continue his education at the Academy, where he became friends with Theodoor Verstraete and was influenced by exhibitions of post-impressionist art given by the ''Cercle Artistique'' of Antwerp. Although committed to being an artist, his adventurous personality sought other outlets for his creativity, including a stint as an acrobat in a German circus. In 1886, he visited the so-called "

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leopo ...

" as part of a brief expedition. Finding himself impressed with the artistic potential of Africa, he made another trip there from 1887 to 1888 at his own expense, having been unable to find sponsors. He travelled throughout the

Bas-Congo Kongo Central ( kg, Kongo dia Kati ), formerly Bas-Congo is one of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Matadi. History At the time of independence, the area now encompassing Kongo Central was part of the g ...

, then sailed up the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

to what is now

Équateur Province Équateur, French for equator, may refer to: Places * Province of Équateur, a province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2015 * Équateur (former province), a former province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1966–2015 * Équa ...

, painting landscapes along the way. Upon his return to Belgium, he held several successful exhibitions, but was later ignored at the

Exposition Internationale d'Anvers (1894) Exposition Internationale d'Anvers was a World's Fair held in Antwerp, Belgium between 5 May and 5 November in 1894. It covered , attracted 3 million visits and made a profit. It took place at the same location as the Exposition Universelle d'A ...

. Following this snub, he joined with

Eugène Broerman Eugène Broerman (12 July 1861 – 7 October 1932) was a Belgian painter. Life He trained at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. His house, Antoine Delporteplein 2, Saint-Gilles, has been a protected historical monument since ...

to produce a

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

that would be displayed in a pavilion devoted to the Congo (currently the

Royal Museum for Central Africa The Royal Museum for Central Africa or RMCA ( nl, Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika or KMMA; french: Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale or MRAC; german: Königliches Museum für Zentralafrika or KMZA), also officially known as the AfricaMuse ...

) at the

Brussels International (1897) The Brussels International Exposition (french: Exposition Internationale de Bruxelles, nl, Wereldtentoonstelling te Brussel) of 1897 was a world's fair held in Brussels, Belgium, from 10 May 1897 through 8 November 1897. There were 27 partici ...

, founding the ''Société de nom collectif Hens et Broerman'' for that purpose. The project was never fully realized. Ironically, many of his works are now part of the permanent collection at the museum. He was a member of several artists' associations, including ''Pour l'Art'' and ''Weest U Zelve'' (Be Yourself) and was a founding member of ''De XIII'' and ''Kunst van Heden'' (Art of Today). From 1919 to 1923, he was a teacher at the Royal Academy. Despite the prominence given to his African paintings, most of his work was focused on the Belgian coast, with ships as a recurring theme. He died in his native city of Antwerp, aged 71. Hens-Night

References

External links

More works by Hens
@ ArtNet

Archive Jan-Frans Hens
Royal museum for central Africa {{DEFAULTSORT:Hens, Frans 1856 births 1928 deaths Artists from Antwerp 19th-century Belgian painters Belgian male painters 19th-century Belgian male artists 20th-century Belgian painters 20th-century Belgian male artists

Life and work

References

Further reading

External links