DOI Heft:
No. 174 (September, 1907)
DOI Artikel:Khnopff, Fernand: Alexandre Struys, a Belgian painter
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20775#0322
Alexandre Struys
persons or of narrow coteries ; international sue- Just at this time Jan van Beers, the wayward
cesses, due to more or less diplomatic relations, painter of ultra-Parisian whimsicalities, and J. Lam-
and to a subservient consideration for foreign beaux, the powerful sculptor of Flemish grossieretes,
fashions in art; and lastly there is success (the simultaneously terminated their studies at the
rarest kind of all) due to the intrinsic merits of the Antwerp Academy. Jan van Beers was already
work itself. attracting attention by his exuberant independence
It is a success of this last description that of spirit and by eccentricities that had become
Alexandre Struys's latest works have achieved, notorious. He made great friends with Struys,
It is seldom nowadays, in fact, that one finds whom he persuaded to join him in a studio he had
painting which so completely expresses the entire taken in the heart of Antwerp,
individuality of an artist. Struys's individuality only In 1871, while still attending the higher classes
came to the surface after long and painful hesita- at the Academy, Struys had exhibited A Young
tion, after numerous and grievous misconceptions ; Girl returning from School in the Salon at Ghent;
but from that very circumstance has resulted his in Jan van Beers' studio he painted a series of
strong and definite sincerity, which touches the humorous pictures, facile and ordinary in character,
heart deeply, leaving a permanent impression. which obtained no greater success with the public
Alexandre Theodore Honore' Struys was born at than did the extravagances which his friend in-
Berchem, near Antwerp, on January 24, 1852. vented in order to attract the notice of buyers.
His grandfather had been an artist;
his father, a native of Gulenborg,
in Holland, was a notable painter
on glass, and had come to finish his
artistic education at the Academy
of Antwerp. When he returned to
his own country he sent his son
Alexandre to the communal school
at Dordrecht, where his master soon
noticed his astonishing talent for
drawing. The parents had no de-
sire to thwart this evident vocation;
and thus it came about that at the
age of six Alexandre Struys was
already regularly attending the draw-
ing classes at the Academy of
Dordrecht, This course of instruc-
tion was not, however, of long
duration; he subsequently entered
the studio of the painter Canta, at
Rotterdam, as a pupil, and also—as
was still the custom—in the capacity
of general help. But neither did
this phase last long: the glass-painter
went to live in Antwerp again, and
sent his twelve-year-old son to the
Academy of Fine Arts, which was
then directed by N. de Keyser, and
had for its principals Professors
Beaufaux and Van Lerius, painters
of the most official type.
The academic successes of Alex-
andre Struys were not extraordinary;
but he worked with commendable
diligence under the direction of his
masters from 1866 to 1871. "l'knfant maladk" by a. struys
284
persons or of narrow coteries ; international sue- Just at this time Jan van Beers, the wayward
cesses, due to more or less diplomatic relations, painter of ultra-Parisian whimsicalities, and J. Lam-
and to a subservient consideration for foreign beaux, the powerful sculptor of Flemish grossieretes,
fashions in art; and lastly there is success (the simultaneously terminated their studies at the
rarest kind of all) due to the intrinsic merits of the Antwerp Academy. Jan van Beers was already
work itself. attracting attention by his exuberant independence
It is a success of this last description that of spirit and by eccentricities that had become
Alexandre Struys's latest works have achieved, notorious. He made great friends with Struys,
It is seldom nowadays, in fact, that one finds whom he persuaded to join him in a studio he had
painting which so completely expresses the entire taken in the heart of Antwerp,
individuality of an artist. Struys's individuality only In 1871, while still attending the higher classes
came to the surface after long and painful hesita- at the Academy, Struys had exhibited A Young
tion, after numerous and grievous misconceptions ; Girl returning from School in the Salon at Ghent;
but from that very circumstance has resulted his in Jan van Beers' studio he painted a series of
strong and definite sincerity, which touches the humorous pictures, facile and ordinary in character,
heart deeply, leaving a permanent impression. which obtained no greater success with the public
Alexandre Theodore Honore' Struys was born at than did the extravagances which his friend in-
Berchem, near Antwerp, on January 24, 1852. vented in order to attract the notice of buyers.
His grandfather had been an artist;
his father, a native of Gulenborg,
in Holland, was a notable painter
on glass, and had come to finish his
artistic education at the Academy
of Antwerp. When he returned to
his own country he sent his son
Alexandre to the communal school
at Dordrecht, where his master soon
noticed his astonishing talent for
drawing. The parents had no de-
sire to thwart this evident vocation;
and thus it came about that at the
age of six Alexandre Struys was
already regularly attending the draw-
ing classes at the Academy of
Dordrecht, This course of instruc-
tion was not, however, of long
duration; he subsequently entered
the studio of the painter Canta, at
Rotterdam, as a pupil, and also—as
was still the custom—in the capacity
of general help. But neither did
this phase last long: the glass-painter
went to live in Antwerp again, and
sent his twelve-year-old son to the
Academy of Fine Arts, which was
then directed by N. de Keyser, and
had for its principals Professors
Beaufaux and Van Lerius, painters
of the most official type.
The academic successes of Alex-
andre Struys were not extraordinary;
but he worked with commendable
diligence under the direction of his
masters from 1866 to 1871. "l'knfant maladk" by a. struys
284