May Claerhout (21 February 1939 – 7 November 2016) 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 ...

artist who was born in

Pittem Pittem () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Egem and Pittem proper. Pittem has population of more than 6,700 The total area is 34.42 km² which gives a population dens ...

. She created sculptures in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

and

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

, and she created several statues for public buildings in Belgium. Her studio was located in

Malle Malle () is a municipality located in the Campine region of the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the villages of Oostmalle and Westmalle. In 2021, Malle had a total population of 15,620. The total area is 51.99 km2. H ...

. Claerhout was married to Armand Storms and together they had three children.

Works

* ''Statue Europe'' (bronze, 20 December 1993), in the Espace Léopold, the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels housing the European Parliament, given by the Belgian presidency

Espace Léopold The Espace Léopold (French; commonly used in English) or Leopoldruimte (Dutch; ) is the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels, Belgium, housing the European Parliament, a legislative chamber of the European Union (EU). It consists of a ...

* ''Statue Father Damien'' (bronze) * ''5 Continents'' (bronze) * ''History of scripture'' (bronze) * ''Birth of Mankind'' (bronze) * ''Metro in the city'' (red terracotta, Metrostation Opera on crossing Keizerlei and Meir, Antwerp) * ''City, Stream en Metro'' (white, glazed terracotta, Metrostation Frederik van Eden, Leftbank, Antwerp) * ''Union'' (white, glazed terracotta) * ''Ziekenzorg'' (red terracotta) * ''Generations'' (red terracotta) * ''Debat'' (red terracotta) * ''Aula'' (white, glazed terracotta)

References

Tourism in Malle
(Dutch) * May Claerhout, ''De kunst van May Claerhout'', Mercatorfonds & Arcade, (1977), * Gaby Gyselen, ''May Claerhout'', Ons Erfdeel (1979), nr 3, pp. 406–411 {{DEFAULTSORT:Claerhout, May 1939 births 2016 deaths Flemish sculptors (before 1830) People from Malle People from West Flanders 20th-century Belgian women artists 20th-century Belgian sculptors 21st-century Belgian sculptors 21st-century Belgian women artists