Eugeen Van Mieghem
Augustine malade, 1905
Fondation Eugeen Van Mieghem
From the museum website
This exhibition of about fifty works, mostly drawings, is devoted to the role of women in the work of Eugeen van Mieghem (1875-1930), who is mostly known for his depictions of the working class in the port of Antwerp at the beginning of the 20th Century. Women played a decisive role in the life of Van Mieghem: first his mother, who gave her son financial and moral support, then his wife, who was both mother and artist’s muse and finally the women of the port of Antwerp whom the artist portrayed with respect and dignity.
The series of portraits of Augustine Pautre, the wife of the artist who died of tuberculosis at the age of 24, occupies an important place in the exhibition. This series, which reflects Rembrandt’s influence on the work of the artist, also echoes the series of portraits of Valentine Godé executed by Ferdinand Hodler in 1915.
In collaboration with the Eugeen van Mieghem Foundation.