Imposing Bronze By Jef Lambeaux The Winner

Imposing bronze by Jef Lambeaux. Certainly, Jef Lambeaux has not remained in the collective memory as the greatest artist of his generation. It's not Horta who wants it. But the Belgian sculptor nevertheless marked his time with works that were both traditional and blatantly modern. Present in many large cities in our country, the sculptures of Jef Lambeaux have caused a lot of ink to flow. Jef Lambeaux does not have the traditional career path of celebrities of his time. He is not from a wealthy background and has not received much education. Born in 1852 into a working-class family, Jef was the son of a boilermaker from Namur and a woman from Antwerp. Modest origins, which art critics would never cease to remind him of later. His artistic sense was quickly noticed, and the young man had the opportunity to enter the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. There he perfected his talent for sculpture. His very first work, entitled War, was exhibited in 1871, but this was not his hour of glory. Lambeaux left for Paris, the world capital of art, and tried in vain to make a breakthrough there. He sculpted several works there, including The Kiss, which would later be considered his masterpiece. Back in Brussels, he was one of the founders of the "Groupe des XX", a club of avant-garde artists which included some big names: James Ensor, Fernand Khnopff, later Félicien Rops, Henry Van de Velde, Anna Boch ( rare woman to be recognized in the artistic world) and a certain Auguste Rodin.u