Constantin Meunier

Constantin Meunier (; 12 April 1831 – 4 April 1905) was a Belgian painter and sculptor. He made an important contribution to the development of modern art by elevating the image of the industrial worker, docker and miner to an icon of modernity. His work is a reflection of the industrial, social and political developments of his day and represents a compassionate and committed view of man and the world.

Early life and education

Constantin Meunier was born in the traditionally working-class area of Etterbeek in Brussels. His family was poor and suffered from the negative economic impact caused by the Belgian Revolution which had taken place the year before Meunier's birth. Meunier's father committed suicide when he was just four years old.

thumb|left|260px|Mining region

He began studying sculpture at the age of 14 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels in September 1845. He studied under the sculptor Louis Jehotte (1804–84) from 1848. He also attended from 1852 the private studio of the sculptor Charles-Auguste Fraikin. While he encountered modest success as a sculptor, his encounter with Gustave Courbet's social realist painting The Stone Breakers in 1851 caused him to doubt the ability of sculpture to adequately represent the contemporary social and artistic issues that were of concern to him. He therefore gave up sculpture in favour of painting which he practiced almost exclusively for the next thirty years.

Meunier was a freemason and a member of the lodge Les Amis Philanthropes of the Grand Orient of Belgium in Brussels.

Meunier died in Ixelles on 4 April 1905.

Works

File:Constantin Meunier - Path descending from the slag heap.jpg|Path descending from the slag heap

File:Potato Diggers.jpg|Potato diggers

File:Tobacco Factory, Sevilla – No.2.jpg|Tobacco Factory, Sevilla

File:Café del Buzero, Sevilla.jpg|Café del Buzero, Sevilla

File:Constantin Meunier - Unloading of a sailboat.jpg|Unloading of a sailboat

File:Constantin Meunier - Return from the mine.jpg|The Return of the Miners

File:Constantin Meunier - Female miner descending into the pit.jpg|Female miner descending into the pit

File:Constantin Meunier - The organ grinder.jpg|The organ grinder

</gallery>

File:Sædemand.JPG|The sower

File:MFA Meunier Le Débardeur.jpg|The Dock Worker

File:Bruxelles square Ambiorix 901.jpg|The Horse at the Pond 1899

File:Man Battling with the Elements, bronze sculpture by Constantin Meunier, 1890-1899, Honolulu Museum of Art.JPG|Man Battling with the Elements

File:Belgique - Bruxelles - Botanique - L'Automne ou Le Semeur de Constantin Meunier - 01.jpg|Autumn (Botanical Garden of Brussels)

File:Le Marteleur Meunier.jpg|The Hammerman

</gallery>

Museum collections

In 1939, the Constantin Meunier Museum dedicated to his work was opened in the last house in which Meunier lived and worked, in Ixelles, Brussels. Today about 150 of his works are displayed there. M - Museum Leuven also holds a number of important works by Meunier, as does Brussels' Fin-de-Siècle Museum. The Galleria d’arte moderna di Milano, one of the most important modern art collection in Italy, holds “The fisherman of Ostend”, 1850.

References

Sources

P. & V. Berko, "Dictionary of Belgian painters born between 1750 & 1875", Knokke 1981, pp. 466–467.