Guillaume Geefs (10 September 1805 – 19 January 1883), also Willem Geefs, was a Belgian

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 ...

. Although known primarily for his monumental works and public portraits of statesmen and nationalist figures, he also explored mythological subject matter, often with an erotic theme.

Life

Guillaume Geefs was born in

Antwerp, Belgium 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,

, the eldest of six brothers in a family of sculptors, the best-known of whom are Joseph Geefs (1808–1885, winner of the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1836) and Jean Geefs (1825–1860, and winner of the prize in 1846). Guillaume first studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp under the late–Flemish Baroque sculptor

Jan Frans van Geel Jan Frans van Geel (Mechelen, 18 September 1756 – Antwerp, 20 January 1830)Jean-Etienne Ramey at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

in Paris and began exhibiting his work in 1828. In 1829, Geefs traveled to Italy. When he returned to Antwerp, he began teaching at the art academy. During the 1830s, he executed the colossal work ''Victims of the Revolution'' at

Brussels 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 ...

, as well as numerous

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

s and busts. In 1836, he married Isabelle Marie Françoise Corr, a Brussels-born painter of Irish descent known professionally as Fanny Geefs."Geefs, Guillaume (1805–1883)"
Philatelia.net.
/ref> In the mid-19th century, the sculptor Guillaume-Joseph Charlier was an assistant to him and his brother Joseph. The Geefs family played a leading role in the craze for public sculpture that followed Belgian independence in the 1830s, producing several propagandistic monuments that emphasized a "historical continuity of the southern Low Countries in the new independent state".

Honours

* 1875 : Officer in the

Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to: * Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918 * Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium * Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...

.Almanach royal officiel: 1875, p. 20 * 1881 : Grand Officer in the

. * Knight of the

Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa The Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (also known as The Order of Our Lady of Conception of Vila Vicosa; pt, Ordem de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Vila Viçosa) is a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Braganza, the f ...

. * Knight of the

Order of Saint Michael , status = Abolished by decree of Louis XVI on 20 June 1790Reestablished by Louis XVIII on 16 November 1816Abolished in 1830 after the July RevolutionRecognised as a dynastic order of chivalry by the ICOC , founder = Louis XI of France , hi ...

. * Member of the

Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, sometimes referred to as ') is the independent learned society of science and arts of the French Com ...

As an artist

Geefs' early work has been characterized as "predominately elegiac in mood". By the end of the 1830s, however, he developed a powerful, spare realism in monumental works such as '' General Belliard'' and '' Frédéric de Mérode'' (erected in

, 1836–37) and ''

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradit ...

'' ( Antwerp, 1841). He was prolific in producing tombs, pulpits, statues, busts, and sculpture groups.

Works

Belgique - Bruxelles - Monument aux martyrs - 02

The works of Guillaume Geefs include: * Epitaphe of count

Jacques Coghen Count Jacques Andres Coghen (31 October 1791 in Brussels – 15 May 1858 in Brussels) was the second Minister of Finance (Belgium), Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of Belgium (1831-1832), and a direct ancestor of the current King, Philippe of ...

, Belgian

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

(1831–1832), Cemetery of Laeken * Epitaphe of and Marie-Joseph d'Ognyes; in Brussels * ''Frédéric de Mérode'' (1833/1837), tomb monument, "noted for its naturalness and lack of idealization" * ''General

Belliard Belliard is a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Augustin Daniel Belliard (1769–1832), French general * David Belliard (born 1978), French journalist and politician * Michel Belliard Michel Belliard (born 14 July 1949) is a Fre ...

'' (1836), Rue Royale/Koningsstraat in Brussels; more than life-size * ''Monument to the Martyrs of the 1830 Revolution'' (1836–38), an allegorical monument commemorating the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. ...

, on Martyrs' Square in Brussels * '' Leopold I'', considered one of the most important works of public art in Belgium in the 19th century; a stamp issued in 1981 commemorates this statue; it may be viewed online * ''Treurende Adonis'' (1839), white marble of

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis, ; derived from the Canaanite word ''ʼadōn'', meaning "lord".R. S. P. Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 23. was the mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite. One day, Adonis was gored by a ...

in mourning * A small sculpture of a young sleeping angel, privately held and not authenticated (but signed by the artist), found in 1993 in an abandoned house in Brussels *'' Grétry'' (1842), bronze statue of the composer, in front of the opera house in Liège * ''

Le génie du mal ''Le génie du mal'' (or ''The Genius of Evil'' or ''The Spirit of Evil''), known informally in English as ''Lucifer'' or ''The Lucifer of Liège'' is a religious sculpture executed in white marble and installed in 1848 by the Belgian artist G ...

'', a

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage ...

in white marble for the Cathedral of St. Paul in Liège * ''

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Em ...

'' (1843), statue in the

Basilica of Saint Servatius The Basilica of Saint Servatius is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Servatius, in the city of Maastricht, the Netherlands. The architecturally hybrid but mainly Romanesque church is situated next to the Gothic church of Saint John ...

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

* '' The Roman Gladiator'', located opposite the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, to mark the ground-breaking for the 1894 Mid-Winter Exposition * ''Le lion amoreux'' or ''The Amorous Lion'' (1851), marble,

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They include six museums: the Oldmasters Mus ...

* ''Gardel Memorial'' (1864), a 25-foot pyramid memorial in Mount Vernon Cemetery in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, with statues depicting Africa, Asia, Europe, Hope and Faith * A statue of

Isabelle Brunelle Isabelle Brunelle (1724–1805), countess d'Harscamp, was a refugee and philanthropist. Life Brunelle was born in Aachen on 3 September 1724, the daughter of Herman Brunelle and Jeanne-Marie Tilmans. She was educated in Liège, and in 1748 married ...

(1872) in the garden of the almshouse that she founded in Namur.

Assessment

In his lifetime, Geefs' work was considered by some to be marred by "frivolous and inessential" details and "poverty of thought", together with a perceived frigidity of expression in his modelling. He is now regarded as the dominant Belgian sculptor of his time.

References

External links

Two statues by Guillaume Geefs

Bio on Philatelia.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geefs, Guillaume 1805 births 1883 deaths Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) alumni Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) faculty Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium People from Borgerhout 19th-century Belgian sculptors 19th-century Belgian male artists