Alexander Struys

Alexander Struys in his study (c.1894)

Birds of Prey (1876)

Alexander Theodore Honoré Struys (24 January 1852, Berchem – 25 March 1941, Uccle) was a Belgian genre and portrait painter in the Realistic style.

Biography[]

His father (originally from Holland) was a master glass painter. At the age of six, he was already a student at the Academy of Dordrecht.^[1] Later, he was a student of Polydore Beaufaux and Jozef Van Lerius at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp).^[2] In 1871, he exhibited in Ghent and travelled with Jan Van Beers to France and England, where they attempted to sell their works, but barely made enough to get back home. His anti-clerical painting, "Birds of Prey" (or "God is Dead", in Dutch), created a scandal in 1876.^[1]

The year after, he was named a Professor at the Weimar Saxon-Grand Ducal Art School, following in the steps of his fellow Belgians, Charles Verlat (recently the school's Director) and Ferdinand Pauwels.^[2] One of his best-known students there was Christian Rohlfs. He remained in that position until 1882, when he moved to The Hague and worked as a portrait painter for two years, after which he went back to Belgium.^[1]

Working without a studio, he painted in the homes of the poor people he depicted. His work attracted much attention and praise in the more socially conscious publications of that time, and he became a close friend of Jakob Smits, who was also involved in social issues. Some less sympathetic commentators referred to him as the "painter of misery and pain".^{[citation needed]}

He settled in Mechelen and became head of the Royal Drawing Academy there. In 1902, he joined the administrative commission for the ninth exhibition by the "Société des Beaux-Arts à Bruxelles" and, three years later, became Vice-President of the "Société Royale des Beaux-Arts". That same year, he also served on the committee charged with preparing the "Exposition Rétrospective de l'Art Belge"; part of the country's 75th anniversary celebrations. He was also a member of the Académie Royale de Belgique and the Institut de France.

References[]

External links[]

Media related to Alexander Struys at Wikimedia Commons

• Emile Wesly, Alexander Struys, from Elsevier's geïllustreerd maandschrift, 1894
• Max Rooses, « Alexander Struys », in: Oude en nieuwe kunst, Ghent, Boekhandel J. Vuylsteke, 1896, p. 205-220.