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

Life

Charles Auguste Fraikin was born in

Herentals Herentals () is a municipality and city in the province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the city of Herentals proper and the towns of Morkhoven and Noorderwijk. In 2022, Herentals had a total population of 28,455. The total area is . Saint ...

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed from 1815 to 1839. The United Netherlands was created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars through the fusion of territories t ...

, on 14 June 1817. He took drawing lessons from the age of twelve at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. 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 François-Joseph Navez (16 November 1787 in Charleroi – 12 October 1869 in Brussels) was a Belgian Neoclassicism, Neoclassical painter; known for his portraits and Genre art, genre scenes. Biography As the son of an alderman, in a privileged f ...

, painter and director of the Brussels Academy, 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 (, ; , ) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They are part of the institutions of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) and consist of six museums: the Oldmasters Museum, the ...

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

. 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 Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

: * Allegory of the

City of Brussels The City of Brussels is the largest List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the ...

(1848), Place Rouppe/Rouppeplein * 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 be ...

and

Horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

(1864), Square du Petit Sablon/Kleine Zavelsquare * Eleven portal images for 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 Belgium, Belgian politician. He has been called "the architect of Belgian independence'. Biography Born in Maast ...

in the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula * Funerary statue of Ferdinand Nicolay at Laeken Cemetery

Dendermonde Dendermonde (; , ) is a city in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders in Belgium. The Municipalities of Belgium, municipality comprises the city of Dendermonde and the towns of Appels, Baasrode, Grembergen, M ...

: * Monument of Father

Pierre-Jean De Smet Pierre-Jean De Smet, SJ ( ; 30 January 1801 – 23 May 1873), also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Flemish Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He is known primarily for his widespread missionary work in the mid-19t ...

(1878),Pater Pieter Jan De Smet (Dendermonde)
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Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

: * Mausoleum for

Louise of Orléans Louise of Orléans (Louise-Marie Thérèse Charlotte Isabelle; 3 April 1812 – 11 October 1850) was the first Queen of the Belgians as the second wife of King Leopold I from their marriage on 9 August 1832 until her death in 1850. She wa ...

(1859),

Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk (Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul) is a Roman Catholic church in Ostend, Belgium. The neo-Gothic building was constructed on the ashes of a previous church that occupied the site. King Leopold II enthusiasticall ...

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