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{{Short description|Belgian sculptor (1805–1883)}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox artist
{{Infobox artist
| bgcolour = #6495ED
| name = Guillaume Geefs
| name = Guillaume Geefs
| image = Guillaume Geefs portrait.jpg
| image = Guillaume Geefs portrait.jpg
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| birth_name =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 10 September 1805
| birth_date = 10 September 1805
| birth_place = [[Borgerhout]], [[First French Republic|French Republic]]<br/><small>(modern-day [[Belgium]])</small>
| birth_place = [[Borgerhout]], French Empire<br /><small>(modern-day [[Belgium]])</small>
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1883|1|19|1805|9|10}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1883|1|19|1805|9|10}}
| death_place = [[Schaarbeek]], [[Belgium]]
| death_place = [[Schaerbeek]], Belgium
| nationality = [[Belgium|Belgian]]
| nationality = [[Belgium|Belgian]]
| field = sculpture
| field = sculpture
| training = [[Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp]] and [[École des Beaux-Arts|École des Beaux-Arts (Paris)]]
| training = [[Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp]] and [[École des Beaux-Arts|École des Beaux-Arts (Paris)]]
| movement = synthesis of [[Flemish Baroque painting|Late Flemish Baroque]], [[Neoclassicism]], [[Romanticism]], [[Realism (visual arts)|Realism]]
| movement = synthesis of [[Flemish Baroque painting|Late Flemish Baroque]], [[Neoclassicism]], [[Romanticism]], [[Realism (visual arts)|Realism]]
| works = ''Victims of the Revolution'' (1838); statues, busts, and tomb monuments of statesmen and artists; ''[[Le génie du mal]]''
| works = ''Victims of the Revolution'' (1838); statues, busts, and tomb monuments of statesmen and artists; ''[[Le génie du mal]]''
| patrons =
| patrons =
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Fanny Geefs]]|1836|}}
| influenced by = [[Étienne-Jules Ramey]]
| influenced = [[Paul Bouré]], [[Guillaume Charlier]], [[Joseph Geefs]]
| awards =
}}
}}


'''Guillaume Geefs''' (10 September 1805 &ndash; 19 January 1883<ref>[http://www.artfact.com/artist/geefs-guillaume-8mpr19338o ArtFact.]</ref>), also '''Willem Geefs''', was a [[Belgium|Belgian]] [[sculpture|sculptor]]. 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.
'''Guillaume Geefs''' (10 September 1805 &ndash; 19 January 1883<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.artfact.com/artist/geefs-guillaume-8mpr19338o|title=The World's Premier Online Auctions &#124; Invaluable.com|accessdate=23 June 2023}}</ref>), also '''Willem Geefs''', was a [[Belgium|Belgian]] [[sculpture|sculptor]]. 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==
==Life==
Geefs was born at [[Antwerp]], 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]] 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 [[Flemish Baroque painting|late–Flemish Baroque]] sculptor [[Jan Frans van Geel]] and his son, [[Jan Lodewijk van Geel]], who was also a sculptor.<ref>"Jan Frans van Geel", [http://www.answers.com/topic/jan-frans-van-geel Art Encyclopedia.]</ref> He completed his training under [[Jean-Etienne Ramey]] at the [[École des Beaux-Arts]] in Paris and began exhibiting his work in 1828.
Guillaume Geefs was born in [[Antwerp, Belgium]], 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]] 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 [[Flemish Baroque painting|late–Flemish Baroque]] sculptor [[Jan Frans van Geel]] and his son, Jan Lodewijk van Geel, who was also a sculptor.<ref>"Jan Frans van Geel", [http://www.answers.com/topic/jan-frans-van-geel Art Encyclopedia.]</ref> He completed his training under [[Jean-Etienne Ramey]] at the [[École des Beaux-Arts]] 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]], as well as numerous [[statue]]s and [[Bust (sculpture)|bust]]s. In 1836, he married Isabelle Marie Françoise Corr, a Brussels-born painter of Irish descent known professionally as [[Fanny Geefs]].<ref>"Geefs, Guillaume (1805–1883)", [http://www.philatelia.net/bonapart/artists/?more=1&id=228 Philatelia.net.]</ref> In the mid-19th century, the sculptor [[Guillaume Charlier|Guillaume-Joseph Charlier]] was an assistant to him and his brother Joseph.<ref>"Charlier, Guillaume(-Joseph)", [http://www.artnet.com/library/01/0160/T016077.asp ArtNet] based on the ''Grove Dictionary of Art''.</ref>
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]], as well as numerous [[statue]]s and [[Bust (sculpture)|bust]]s. In 1836, he married Isabelle Marie Françoise Corr, a Brussels-born painter of Irish descent known professionally as [[Fanny Geefs]].<ref name="auto1">"Geefs, Guillaume (1805–1883)", [http://www.philatelia.net/bonapart/artists/?more=1&id=228 Philatelia.net.]</ref> In the mid-19th century, the sculptor [[Guillaume Charlier|Guillaume-Joseph Charlier]] was an assistant to him and his brother Joseph.<ref>"Charlier, Guillaume(-Joseph)", [http://www.artnet.com/library/01/0160/T016077.asp ArtNet] based on the ''Grove Dictionary of Art''.</ref>

⚫
The Geefs family played a leading role in the craze for public sculpture that followed [[Belgian Revolution|Belgian independence in the 1830s]],<ref>"Sculpture et des arts décoratifs du XVIe au début du XXe siècle", [http://www.lowcountriessculpture.org/briefhistoryfr9.htm LowCountriesSculpture.org.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420130601/http://www.lowcountriessculpture.org/briefhistoryfr9.htm |date=20 April 2009 }}</ref> producing several propagandistic monuments that emphasized a "historical continuity of the southern Low Countries in the new independent state."<ref>Léon E. Lock, [http://www.lowcountriessculpture.org/briefhistoryen3.htm LowCountriesSculpture.org. "A brief history of the sculpture in the present-day Netherlands and Belgium"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211233041/http://www.lowcountriessculpture.org/briefhistoryen3.htm |date=11 February 2009 }}</ref>


⚫
The Geefs family played a leading role in the craze for public sculpture that followed [[Belgian Revolution|Belgian independence in the 1830s]],<ref>"Sculpture et des arts décoratifs du XVIe au début du XXe siècle", [http://www.lowcountriessculpture.org/briefhistoryfr9.htm LowCountriesSculpture.org.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420130601/http://www.lowcountriessculpture.org/briefhistoryfr9.htm |date=20 April 2009 }}</ref> producing several propagandistic monuments that emphasized a "historical continuity of the southern Low Countries in the new independent state".<ref>Léon E. Lock, [http://www.lowcountriessculpture.org/briefhistoryen3.htm LowCountriesSculpture.org. "A brief history of the sculpture in the present-day Netherlands and Belgium"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211233041/http://www.lowcountriessculpture.org/briefhistoryen3.htm |date=11 February 2009 }}</ref>
[[File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Monument aux martyrs - 02.jpg|thumb|[[Monument to the Martyrs of the 1830 Revolution]]]]
[[File:Monument au général Belliard - 01.JPG|thumb|Monument to General Belliard (1838)]]
== Honours ==
== Honours ==
* '''1875''' : Officer in the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]].<ref>Almanach royal officiel: 1875, p. 20</ref>
* 1875 : Officer in the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]].<ref name="auto">Almanach royal officiel: 1875, p. 20</ref>
* '''1881''' : Grand Officer in the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]].<ref>Handelsblad (Het) 15-05-1881</ref>
* 1881 : Grand Officer in the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]].<ref>Handelsblad (Het) 15-05-1881</ref>
* Knight of the [[Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa]].<ref>Almanach royal officiel: 1875, p. 20</ref>
* Knight of the [[Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa]].<ref name="auto"/>
* Knight of the [[Order of Saint Michael]].<ref>Almanach royal officiel: 1875, p. 20</ref>
* Knight of the [[Order of Saint Michael]].<ref name="auto"/>
* Member of the [[Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium]].
* Member of the [[Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium]].


==As artist==
==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 (visual arts)|realism]] in monumental works such as ''[[Augustin Daniel Belliard|General Belliard]]'' and ''[[House of Merode#The House Mérode-Westerloo|Frédéric de Mérode]]'' (erected in Brussels, 1836 and 1837) and ''[[Peter Paul Rubens]]'' (Antwerp, 1841).<ref>"Geefs, Guillaume (1805–1883)", [http://www.philatelia.net/bonapart/artists/?more=1&id=228 Philatelia.net .]</ref> He was prolific in producing tombs, pulpits, statues, busts, and sculpture groups.<ref>[http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_item_detail.php?id=272518 catalogue]. Charles Flint Art & Antiques</ref><!--This is an art auction catalogue from a reputable firm, not a 'spam' link; it is an accurate description of the artist's oeuvre-->
Geefs' early work has been characterized as "predominately elegiac in mood". By the end of the 1830s, however, he developed a powerful, spare [[Realism (visual arts)|realism]] in monumental works such as ''[[Augustin Daniel Belliard|General Belliard]]'' and ''[[House of Merode#The House Mérode-Westerloo|Frédéric de Mérode]]'' (erected in [[Brussels]], 1836–37) and ''[[Peter Paul Rubens]]'' ([[Antwerp]], 1841).<ref>"Geefs, Guillaume (1805–1883)", [http://www.philatelia.net/bonapart/artists/?more=1&id=228 Philatelia.net .]</ref> He was prolific in producing tombs, pulpits, statues, busts, and sculpture groups.<ref>[http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_item_detail.php?id=272518 catalogue]. Charles Flint Art & Antiques</ref><!--This is an art auction catalogue from a reputable firm, not a 'spam' link; it is an accurate description of the artist's oeuvre-->


===Works===
===Works===
[[Image:Antwerpen rubens1 bewerkt.jpg|thumb|100 px|right|Detail from Geefs' sculpture of Rubens]]
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[[File:Lucifer Liege Luc Viatour new.jpg|thumb|100px|''[[Le génie du mal]]'' (1848)]]
The works of Guillaume Geefs include:
The works of Guillaume Geefs include:
* Epitaphe of count [[Jacques Coghen]], Belgian [[Minister of Finance (Belgium)|Minister of Finance]] (1831–1832), in [[Laeken Cemetery]]
* Epitaphe of [[Guillaume-Charles de Merode, 4th Prince of Rubempré]] and Marie-Joseph d'Ognyes; Church of the Minimes, Brussels.<ref>http://balat.kikirpa.be/photo.php?path=B028461&objnr=20014298&nr=25</ref>
* Epitaphe of {{ill|Guillaume-Charles de Merode, 4th Prince of Rubempré|fr|Charles de Merode (1762–1830)}} and Marie-Joseph d'Ognyes; in the {{ill|Church of the Minimes|fr|Église Saints-Jean-et-Étienne-aux-Minimes}} in Brussels<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://balat.kikirpa.be/object/20014298|title=Eepitaaf van graaf Willem Charles Ghislain van Merode, door Willem Geefs|website=BALaT KIK-IRPA}}</ref>
* ''Frédéric [[House of Merode|de Mérode]]'' (1833/1837), tomb monument, "noted for its naturalness and lack of idealization."<ref>A brief history of the sculpture
* ''Frédéric [[House of Merode|de Mérode]]'' (1833/1837), tomb monument, "noted for its naturalness and lack of idealization"<ref>A brief history of the sculpture
in the present-day Netherlands and Belgium {{cite web |url=http://www.lowcountriessculpture.org/briefhistoryen3.htm |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-05-06 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211233041/http://www.lowcountriessculpture.org/briefhistoryen3.htm |archivedate=11 February 2009 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
in the present-day Netherlands and Belgium {{cite web |url=http://www.lowcountriessculpture.org/briefhistoryen3.htm |title=LowCountriesSculpture |access-date=2009-05-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211233041/http://www.lowcountriessculpture.org/briefhistoryen3.htm |archive-date=11 February 2009}}</ref>
* ''General Belliard'' (1836), rue Royale, Brussels; more than life-size
* ''General [[Augustin Daniel Belliard|Belliard]]'' (1838), on the Rue Baron Horta in Brussels; more than life-size
* ''Victims of the Revolution'' (1838), an allegorical monument commemorating the [[Belgian Revolution]]
* ''[[Monument to the Martyrs of the 1830 Revolution]]'' (1836–38), an [[allegory|allegorical]] monument commemorating the victims of the [[Belgian Revolution]], on the [[Place des Martyrs, Brussels|Place des Martyrs/Martelaarsplein]] in Brussels
* [[Leopold I of Belgium|Leopold I]], considered one of the most important works of public art in Belgium in the 19th century;<ref>Pierre Henrion, "La Commission des Arts de la Région wallonne," [http://www.skene.be/RW/RWECHO51/echo5101.html Les echos du patrimoine.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630045002/http://www.skene.be/RW/RWECHO51/echo5101.html |date=30 June 2008 }}</ref> a stamp issued in 1981 commemorates this statue; it may be viewed [http://philatelia.ru/pict/cat1/stamp/2181s.jpg online]
* ''[[Leopold I of Belgium|Leopold I]]'', considered one of the most important works of public art in Belgium in the 19th century;<ref>Pierre Henrion, "La Commission des Arts de la Région wallonne," [http://www.skene.be/RW/RWECHO51/echo5101.html Les echos du patrimoine.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630045002/http://www.skene.be/RW/RWECHO51/echo5101.html |date=30 June 2008 }}</ref> a stamp issued in 1981 commemorates this statue; it may be viewed online<ref>[http://philatelia.ru/pict/cat1/stamp/2181s.jpg Stamp image]philatelia.ru {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719135529/http://philatelia.ru/pict/cat1/stamp/2181s.jpg |date=19 July 2011 }}</ref>
* ''Treurende Adonis'' (1839), white marble of [[Adonis]] in mourning; view [http://www.artnet.com/Artists/LotDetailPage.aspx?lot_id=9AAEB39F5657C9AA9D66C9BB3E1FB2D9 online]
* ''Treurende Adonis'' (1839), white marble of [[Adonis]] in mourning<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/willem-guillaume-geefs/treurende-adonis-149QgwfSJE9cXJqZHehaw2|title=Treurende Adonis by Willem GuillaumeGeefs|website=www.artnet.com}}</ref>
* 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; see [https://market.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1733832&member Renderosity Digital Art Community] or [https://www.webcitation.org/5gLo4KE8V?url=https://market.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id%3D1733832%26member archive]
* 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<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/guillaume-geefs-1805-1883-/1733832/|title=Guillaume Geefs (1805–1883) by fractalbeke Photography Historical|website=Renderosity}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://market.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1733832&member|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611190618/https://market.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1733832&member|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-06-11|title=WebCite query result|website=www.webcitation.org}}</ref>
*''[[André Grétry|Grétry]]'' (1842), bronze statue of the composer, in front of the opera house in Liège
* ''[[Le génie du mal]]'', a [[Lucifer]] in white marble for the [[St. Paul's Cathedral, Liège|Cathedral of St. Paul]], Liège
*''[[André Grétry|Grétry]]'' (1842), bronze statue of the composer, in front of the opera house in [[Liège]]
* ''[[Le génie du mal]]'', a [[Lucifer]] in white marble for the [[St. Paul's Cathedral, Liège|Cathedral of St. Paul]] in Liège
* ''[[Charlemagne]]'' (1843), statue in the [[Basilica of Saint Servatius]] in [[Maastricht]]
* ''[[Charlemagne]]'' (1843), statue in the [[Basilica of Saint Servatius]] in [[Maastricht]]
* Cenotaph of Saint [[Hubert of Liège]], Basilica of [[Saint-Hubert, Belgium|Saint-Hubert]] (1847)
* ''[[Roman Gladiator (sculpture)|The Roman Gladiator]]'', located opposite the [[M. H. de Young Memorial Museum]] in San Francisco to mark the ground-breaking for the 1894 Mid-Winter Exposition; see [https://web.archive.org/web/20080703160607/http://www.lightight.com/GGP/mem_images/Mem3P17.html online.]
* ''[[Roman Gladiator (sculpture)|The Roman Gladiator]]'', located opposite the [[M. H. de Young Memorial Museum]] in [[San Francisco]], to mark the ground-breaking for the 1894 Mid-Winter Exposition<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lightight.com/GGP/mem_images/Mem3P17.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703160607/http://www.lightight.com/GGP/mem_images/Mem3P17.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-07-03|title=The Roman Gladiator}}</ref>
* ''Le lion amoreux'' or ''The Amorous Lion'' (1851), marble, [[Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium]], see [http://worldvisitguide.com/oeuvre/photo_ME0000087576.html online]; small bronze version [http://www.artnet.com/Artists/LotDetailPage.aspx?lot_id=6CE3765A7B53991A online.]
* ''Le lion amoreux'' or ''The Amorous Lion'' (1851), marble, in the [[Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://worldvisitguide.com/oeuvre/photo_ME0000087576.html|title=Worldvisitguide.com|website=worldvisitguide.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/willem-guillaume-geefs/le-lionn-amoreux-fB-LJiVCbJ9if6mD32sxRQ2|title=Le lionn amoreux by Willem GuillaumeGeefs|website=www.artnet.com}}</ref>
* ''Gardel Memorial'' (1864), a 25-foot pyramid memorial in [[Mount Vernon Cemetery (Philadelphia)|Mount Vernon Cemetery]] in [[Philadelphia]], with statues depicting Africa, Asia, Europe, Hope and Faith
* A statue of [[Isabelle Brunelle]] (1872) in the garden of the almshouse that she founded in Namur.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Brunelle Isabelle |website=Connaître la Wallonie |url=http://connaitrelawallonie.wallonie.be/fr/lieux-de-memoire/brunelle-isabelle#.X8Qm2l4o8Wo}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Belgique - Basilique de Saint-Hubert - 02.jpg|Cenotaph of Saint [[Hubert of Liège]], Basilica of [[Saint-Hubert, Belgium|Saint-Hubert]] (1847)
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File:Lucifer Liege Luc Viatour.jpg|''[[Le génie du mal]]'', [[Liège]] (1848)
File:Gardel Memorial, Mt. Vernon cemetery, Philadelphia, Pa, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|Gardel Memorial in [[Mount Vernon Cemetery (Philadelphia)|Mount Vernon Cemetery]], [[Philadelphia]] (1864)
</gallery>


===Assessment===
===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.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} He is now regarded as the dominant Belgian sculptor of his time.<ref>"Geefs, Guillaume (1805–1883)", [http://www.philatelia.net/bonapart/artists/?more=1&id=228 Philatelia.net.]</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Sculpture|volume=24|page=511|first1=Marion Harry Alexander|last1=Spielmann|author-link1=Marion Spielmann|first2=Paul George|last2=Konody|author-link2=Paul George Konody}}</ref> He is now regarded as the dominant Belgian sculptor of his time.<ref name="auto1"/>


{{cquote|He tempered academic stiffness by his flexibility; without being over-bold, he produced natural movements. Yet, he remains, like all the artists of this group, a classicist. These sculptors knew their craft; they had a taste for beautiful forms, but their art was ingenious rather than deeply felt.<ref>Max Rooses, ''Art in Flanders'' (Heinemann, 1914), p. 292 [https://books.google.com/books?id=a_MyXrRBlUQC&pg=PA292 online.]</ref>}}
{{cquote|He tempered academic stiffness by his flexibility; without being over-bold, he produced natural movements. Yet, he remains, like all the artists of this group, a classicist. These sculptors knew their craft; they had a taste for beautiful forms, but their art was ingenious rather than deeply felt.<ref>{{cite book|first=Max |last=Rooses|title=Art in Flanders|publisher=Heinemann|year= 1914|page= 292 |isbn=9781443776592|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a_MyXrRBlUQC&pg=PA292}}</ref>}}
{{-}}


==See also==
==References==
⚫
{{Reflist}}
*''[[Le génie du mal]]''


==External links==
==External links==
{{commons category-inline}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070705165211/http://www.insecula.com/contact/A011451.html Two statues by Guillaume Geefs]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070705165211/http://www.insecula.com/contact/A011451.html Two statues by Guillaume Geefs]
* [http://www.philatelia.net/bonapart/artists/?more=1&id=228 Bio on Philatelia.net]
* [http://www.philatelia.net/bonapart/artists/?more=1&id=228 Bio on Philatelia.net]


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{{Authority control (arts)}}
==References==
[[File:Andre Gretry - statue in Liege.jpg|right|thumb|''[[André Grétry|Grétry]]'' (1842) by Guillaume Geefs]]
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{{Reflist}}

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{{Authority control}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2011}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Geefs, Guillaume}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geefs, Guillaume}}
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[[Category:1883 deaths]]
[[Category:Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) alumni]]
[[Category:Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) alumni]]
[[Category:Faculty of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp)]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp)]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium]]
[[Category:People from Antwerp]]
[[Category:People from Borgerhout]]
[[Category:19th-century Belgian sculptors]]
[[Category:19th-century Belgian sculptors]]
[[Category:19th-century Belgian male artists]]

Latest revision as of 13:03, 15 September 2024

Guillaume Geefs
illustration by Médard Tytgat
Born10 September 1805
Borgerhout, French Empire
(modern-day Belgium)
Died19 January 1883(1883-01-19) (aged 77)
Schaerbeek, Belgium
NationalityBelgian
EducationRoyal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp and École des Beaux-Arts (Paris)
Known forsculpture
Notable workVictims of the Revolution (1838); statues, busts, and tomb monuments of statesmen and artists; Le génie du mal
Movementsynthesis of Late Flemish Baroque, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism
Spouse
​
(m. 1836)​

Guillaume Geefs (10 September 1805 – 19 January 1883[1]), also Willem Geefs, was a Belgian sculptor. 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

[edit]

Guillaume Geefs was born in Antwerp, Belgium, 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 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 and his son, Jan Lodewijk van Geel, who was also a sculptor.[2] He completed his training under Jean-Etienne Ramey at the École des Beaux-Arts 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, as well as numerous statues and busts. In 1836, he married Isabelle Marie Françoise Corr, a Brussels-born painter of Irish descent known professionally as Fanny Geefs.[3] In the mid-19th century, the sculptor Guillaume-Joseph Charlier was an assistant to him and his brother Joseph.[4]

The Geefs family played a leading role in the craze for public sculpture that followed Belgian independence in the 1830s,[5] producing several propagandistic monuments that emphasized a "historical continuity of the southern Low Countries in the new independent state".[6]

Monument to the Martyrs of the 1830 Revolution
Monument to General Belliard (1838)

Honours

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As an artist

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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 Brussels, 1836–37) and Peter Paul Rubens (Antwerp, 1841).[9] He was prolific in producing tombs, pulpits, statues, busts, and sculpture groups.[10]

Works

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The works of Guillaume Geefs include:

Assessment

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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.[22] He is now regarded as the dominant Belgian sculptor of his time.[3]

He tempered academic stiffness by his flexibility; without being over-bold, he produced natural movements. Yet, he remains, like all the artists of this group, a classicist. These sculptors knew their craft; they had a taste for beautiful forms, but their art was ingenious rather than deeply felt.[23]

References

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  1. ^ "The World's Premier Online Auctions | Invaluable.com". Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Jan Frans van Geel", Art Encyclopedia.
  3. ^ a b "Geefs, Guillaume (1805–1883)", Philatelia.net.
  4. ^ "Charlier, Guillaume(-Joseph)", ArtNet based on the Grove Dictionary of Art.
  5. ^ "Sculpture et des arts décoratifs du XVIe au début du XXe siècle", LowCountriesSculpture.org. Archived 20 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Léon E. Lock, LowCountriesSculpture.org. "A brief history of the sculpture in the present-day Netherlands and Belgium" Archived 11 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ a b c Almanach royal officiel: 1875, p. 20
  8. ^ Handelsblad (Het) 15-05-1881
  9. ^ "Geefs, Guillaume (1805–1883)", Philatelia.net .
  10. ^ catalogue. Charles Flint Art & Antiques
  11. ^ "Eepitaaf van graaf Willem Charles Ghislain van Merode, door Willem Geefs". BALaT KIK-IRPA.
  12. ^ A brief history of the sculpture in the present-day Netherlands and Belgium "LowCountriesSculpture". Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  13. ^ Pierre Henrion, "La Commission des Arts de la Région wallonne," Les echos du patrimoine. Archived 30 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Stamp imagephilatelia.ru Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "Treurende Adonis by Willem GuillaumeGeefs". www.artnet.com.
  16. ^ "Guillaume Geefs (1805–1883) by fractalbeke Photography Historical". Renderosity.
  17. ^ "WebCite query result". www.webcitation.org. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  18. ^ "The Roman Gladiator". Archived from the original on 3 July 2008.
  19. ^ "Worldvisitguide.com". worldvisitguide.com.
  20. ^ "Le lionn amoreux by Willem GuillaumeGeefs". www.artnet.com.
  21. ^ "Brunelle Isabelle". Connaître la Wallonie.
  22. ^ Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander; Konody, Paul George (1911). "Sculpture" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 511.
  23. ^ Rooses, Max (1914). Art in Flanders. Heinemann. p. 292. ISBN 9781443776592.
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Media related to Guillaume Geefs at Wikimedia Commons

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