| Artist | |
|---|---|
| Culture | Belgian |
| Date | model: before 1896; cast: before 1896 |
| Object type | sculpture |
| Medium, technique | bronze |
| Dimensions | 36 × 36.5 × 25.5 cm |
| Inventory number | 2199.U |
| Collection | Department of Art after 1800 |
| On view | This artwork is not on display |
Charles van der Stappen radically transformed Belgian sculpture. He taught for a quarter century at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, later becoming its director. As a result, his artistic vision was perpetuated in the works of many of his students who went on to enjoy successful careers as sculptors.
It was thanks to him that women were able to train as sculptors for the first time in Belgium. Stylistically, his work has affinities with that of Paul De Vigne, although he was also greatly influenced by the work of Constantin Meunier. In around 1890, van der Stappen’s work underwent a stylistic and thematic transformation, influenced by both Meunier and Auguste Rodin, as a result of which his art came to be more closely aligned with existing reform trends.
Van der Stappen portrayed human emotions using pure sculptural means and tended to give his works conceptually evocative titles, as in the case of the exhibited bronze Anxiety. The sculpture was on show in 1902 at the spring exhibition in the Budapest Műcsarnok (Kunsthalle), where it was purchased by
the Museum of Fine Arts.
Bianka Boda
Tóth, Ferenc, Donátorok és képtárépítők. A Szépművészeti Múzeum Modern Külföldi Gyűjteményének kialakulása, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, 2012, p. 118., 171.
This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.
