Retrospective reveals the Flemish inspirations of Constantin Meunier
Though Constantin Meunier is generally associated with Wallonia, he has equally close links with Flanders, as dual exhibitions show
On miners and steelworkers
Meunier was born in Brussels in 1831 and began studying sculpture at the age of 14 at the city’s Academy of Fine Arts. He was modestly successful as a sculptor, but an encounter with Gustave Courbet’s realist painting “The Stone Breakers” in 1851 convinced him that this was the only way to handle the social themes that he held dear. He decided to begin again as a painter, giving up sculpture in 1854.
His work from this period ranges from rousing history paintings, such as scenes from the 1798 Peasants’ War in East Flanders, to a more contemporary allegory on the death of Lincoln from 1865. Meunier also produced countless religious paintings, with the emphasis on duty and suffering, along with a steady stream of society portraits and amusing scenes from bourgeois life. After marrying in 1862, he had a growing family to support.
Flanders is present in some of the religious paintings, such as a Leuven begijn or the Easter pilgrimage in Diegem. But the strongest influence is the Trappist abbey at Westmalle in Antwerp province, where Meunier stayed for several periods between 1857 and 1875. He sketched and painted scenes of life in the abbey, from services and ceremonies to the fieldwork undertaken by the monks.
Financial security
His interest in depicting agricultural work – reapers, sowers and gleaners – began in this period, and was soon to be complemented by other forms of labour. In 1878, he made his first journey into the Black Country of Wallonia to see conditions in mining and steel communities. And in the 1880s, he visited the port of Antwerp and the fisherman’s wharf in Ostend.
Working in three dimensions was the only way he could capture the physical strength he had seen
The story goes that it was the sight of men unloading sacks on Antwerp’s docks that inspired Meunier to think again of sculpture. Working in three dimensions was the only way he could capture the poise and physical strength that he had seen. In 1885 he tentatively exhibited wax models of dockers and steel workers. The response was good, and in 1886 he exhibited a first monumental sculpture of an industrial blacksmith.
His hesitancy was connected to the need to support his family. This problem was solved in 1887 when he was appointed to a teaching post at the art academy in Leuven. Along with financial security came the use of a studio, an auditorium previously used to teach anatomy students.
Meunier stayed in Leuven until 1894, producing both paintings and sculpture, going ever deeper into industrial subjects. However, he also captured scenes from the city, such as the immense floods of 1891.
After a couple of rooms exploring Meunier’s development, the retrospective adopts a thematic approach, combining work from before and after his return to sculpture. In this way it explores in some detail his approach to farm workers, fishermen and dockers, and then steel and mine workers.
Powerful works
Throughout you can see the formula that made Meunier’s sculptures so effective: a combination of the contrapposto, the stance used in Ancient Greek and Roman art to bring dynamism to a figure, with the trappings of contemporary industry. This turns sack carriers and smiths into heroes and the young women who pushed coal wagons into beguiling nymphs.
As familiar as this work may be, it never loses its fascination
You can also see attitudes from his religious work reappear, most notably in the variations on “Firedamp” (pictured top), in which a mourning woman stands over the body of a dead miner, who strongly resembles Christ taken down from the cross. As familiar as this work may be, it never loses its fascination.
Meunier’s painting is more variable, yet there are works of real power, such as “St Stephen” (1867), in which the murdered saint appears to have fallen from the sky into a flat Flemish field (pictured above), and “Steelmaking in Seraing” from around 1880. There are also some surprises, such as pastels of mining scenes from around 1896 that have a distinctly symbolist atmosphere rather than Meunier’s trademark realism.
The Brussels retrospective is complemented by a small exhibition at M Museum in Leuven, which shows a modest cross-section of Meunier’s work and draws out some of its religious inspirations. The most persuasive juxtaposes “Firedamp” with a carved figure of Christ in the grave from around 1500.
There are also unrealised plans that would have turned the nearby Monseigneur Ladeuzeplein into an open-air Meunier museum, with a promenade to Sint-Donatuspark where his massive “Monument to Work” was to be installed. In the event, the posthumously realised monument remained in Brussels, where it can still be seen at the point where Koninginnelaan crosses the canal and runs into Laeken.
The Meunier Museum also ended up in Brussels, in the house and studio where the artist was living and working when he died in 1905. While somewhat depleted by the demands of the retrospective, it is still worth a visit for the atmosphere and to see monumental versions of his most famous sculptures. Entry is free and, for the duration of the retrospective, the museum has expanded its restricted opening hours so that it is possible to visit at weekends.
Constantin Meunier (1831-1905) Retrospective, until 11 January at the Museum of Fine Arts Brussels and M Museum Leuven
