Charles Samuel Explained

Charles Samuel (29 December 1862, in Brussels  - 3 February 1938 or 1939, in Cannes^[1]) was a Belgian sculptor, engraver and medalist.

Life

Samuel was born in Brussels and trained there. He studied engraving with Léopold Wiener, sculpture with Eugène Simonis, Joseph Jaquet and Charles van der Stappen, and medal-making with the goldsmith and sculptor Philippe Wolfers. He began his career in 1889, from his house and workshop in Ixelles, which was the first project of noted Belgian architect Henri Van Dievoet. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics.^[2]

His wife was the French pianist Clotilde Kleeberg.

Work

• monument to the novelist Charles De Coster at the Place Flagey in Ixelles, modeled by Neel Doff, 1894
• The Lion, Botanical Garden of Brussels, circa 1898
• female figuration of La Brabançonne (Belgian national anthem, in French language of female though in Dutch of male grammatical gender), Surlet de Chokier square, Brussels, 1930
• bronze military memorial at the Ixelles Cemetery
• Vuakusu Batetela defends a woman from an Arab

Further reading

• J. Ogonovsky, "Samuel, Charles", in J. Van Lennep (ed.), De 19de-eeuwse Belgische beeldhouwkunst, catalogus n.a.v. tentoonstelling G-Bank Brussel 5/10-15/12/1990 (exhibition catalogue), Brussel, 1990, pp. 550–553
• Darmon, Adrian M., 2003: Autour de l'art juif: encyclopédie des peintres, photographes et sculpteurs, p. 330, Carnot
• Pol Defosse, 2005: Dictionnaire historique de la laïcité en Belgique, p.282, Luc Pire Editions
• Beeld Tijl en Nele Inventaris.OnroerendErfgoed.be - Beeld Tijl en Nele
• Benezit Dictionary of Artists: Samuel, Charles (subscription access only)
• RKD.nl: Charles Samuel
• Le Soir (Belgicapress), 5 February 1938: obituary
• N. Hostyn, "Symbolistische beeldhouwkunst in België", Vlanderen 53 (2004), p. 28
• F. Scholten, "Charles Samuels 'Nele', model, fragment, cliché", Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 56 (2008), pp. 192–201
• Thieme/Becker 1907–1950, vol. 29 (1935), p. 377

Notes and References

1. Mary Bouquet, Nuno Porto, Science, Magic and Religion: The Ritual Processes of Museum Magic, 2006, p. 79.
2. Web site: Charles Samuel . Olympedia . 18 August 2020.