George Minne

George Minne (1866-1941) holds a distinct place in European Symbolism, as a sculptor, draftsman and graphic artist.

Minne01 — Collection House of Literature (Letterenhuis), Antwerp - http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

George Minne

Minne presented for the first time in an exhibition in 1989 at the tri-annual Salon of Ghent, a year later with Les XX in Brussels. From 1890 on, he exhibited annually, first at Les XX, then later La Libre Esthétique in Brussels. The artist achieved international renown only with his participation in the Wiener Secession in 1900, where he showed, among others, the Kneeling Youth and the Fountain with Kneeling Youths from 1898, the highpoint in the oeuvre of the artist and also in the symbolist sculpture of the fin de siècle.

Minne is less known as a graphic artist. Yet, his illustrations for the works of the Belgian symbolist writers Grégoire Le Roy (1862-1941), Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949) and Emile Verhaeren (1855-1916) belong to the most significant examples of Belgian book design of the end of the 19th Century.

Between 1897-1899 a few works appeared that were closely linked with the ornamental Art Nouveau style, such as the Small Injured Figure from 1898 and the Woman Bathing from 1899. Also, the wooden image, The Mason from 1897, originally meant for a stairwell in a home designed by Horta, was associated with the art-nouveau view in which sculpture took on a decorative function within interior design.

George Minne, Small Injured Figure, 1898, MSK Gent, 10,5 cm x 25,4 cm x 9,1 cm, inv. 1950-AU - CC0, image artinflanders.be, photo Dominique Provost
George Minne, Woman bathing, 1899, MSK Gent, plaster, 26,0 cm x 39,4 cm x 18,3 cm, object number 1945-B - CC0, image artinflanders.be, foto Dominique Provost
George Minne, The Mason, 1897, MSK Gent, wood, inv. 1951-L - CC0, image artinflanders.be, photo Hugo Maertens

George Minne, Mother grieving over her Dead Child, 1886, MSK Gent, plaster, 15,9 cm x 46,1 cm x 28,2 cm, inv. 1996-A - CC0, image artinflanders.be, photo Dominique Provost

After 1900, Minne seems to have not been able to find the same creative drive as before. He still took on numerous assignments for portraits and memorial drawings and made replicas from previously made sculptures, in particular the Kneeling Youth. Around 1910 Minne went through a period of stylistic crisis. He abandoned every form of style and radically chose a realistic approach from his model. After World War I, the theme of Mother and Child loomed largely and Minne took up again a number of sculptures from his earlier period, such as Mother Grieving over her Dead Child.

Collection

The George Minne-website shows more than 680 works from the collections of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, MSK Gent and Musea Brugge (Groeningemuseum). The collection of the Museum van Deinze en de Leiestreek is represented in the collection overview. Besides, some sculptures in public space are added to the collection.

Discover the collection

Sketchbooks

Minne's sketchbooks provide an insight into the manner in which the artist investigated various possibilities, already as drawings, in order to arrive at the ultimate concept of an image or sculpture group. In these ‘studies' we see his preference for certain motifs already returning: kneeling, naked, straddling male figures, grieving. Some sketch pages show studies that approach the final images, while others are freer drawings that have never lead to a sculptural result.

On the George Minne website, you can browse four sketchbooks from the collection of the MSK Gent.

Browse the sketchbooks

Sketchbook George Minne c. 1891-1898 — Detail from sketchbook George Minne c. 1891-1898 - CC0

Life and work

A biographical section reveals Minne's life and work. Subsections discuss his achievements as a sculptor, draftsman, and graphic artist.

Thematic perspectives

The thematic collection presentation presents his oeuvre from nine different perspectives such as 'kneeling', 'young people', 'embraces' and 'sorrow', each of which are well-known symbolic themes in the oeuvre of the multifaceted Minne.

In-depth information

Researchers will find references to relevant museum libraries and archival materials on the website.

Fascinated by George Minne's oeuvre?

Visit the George Minne website

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