Frans Hens (1 August 1856,

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 ...

– 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 a ...

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

Sub-Saharan Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

Africa.

Life and work

Hens was born in

and began his studies there under Jacob Jacobs at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Antwerp 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 Theodoor Verstraete, also spelled Theodor Verstraete and Théodore Verstraete (5 January 1850 – 8 January 1907) was a Belgian Realist painter and printmaker who is known for his landscapes depicting life in the countryside as well as his paint ...

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 The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (), was a large Sovereign state, state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold II, the const ...

" 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 (), 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 greater province of ...

, then sailed up the

Congo River The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...

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 * � ...

, 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) The Antwerp International Exposition (, ) was a world's fair held in Antwerp, Belgium, between 5 May and 5 November 1894. It covered , attracted 3 million visits and made a profit. It took place at the same location as the 1885 exposition. P ...

. Following this snub, he joined with

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

to produce a

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional model either full-sized or miniature. Sometimes dioramas are enclosed in a glass showcase at a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies like mili ...

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

Royal Museum for Central Africa The Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) (; ; ), communicating under the name AfricaMuseum since 2018, is an ethnography and natural history museum situated in Tervuren in Flemish Brabant, Belgium, just outside Brussels. It was originally b ...

) at the

Brussels International (1897) The Brussels International Exposition (; ) of 1897 was a world's fair held in Brussels, Belgium, from 10 May 1897 through 8 November 1897. There were 27 participating countries, and an estimated attendance of 7.8 million people. The main venu ...

, 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 Draughtsmen from Antwerp 19th-century Belgian painters Belgian male painters 19th-century Belgian male artists 20th-century Belgian painters 20th-century Belgian male artists Painters from Antwerp

Life and work

References

Further reading

External links