“Mouflon sur rocher”, Raymond de Meester de Betzenbroeck

Bronze with brown patina “Mouflon sur rocher”, signed Raymond de Meester (de Betzenbroeck) and numbered 1/8.

Size: H 61cm – W 39cm – D 17 cm

Belgian school of the Art Deco period.

Lit : Raymond de Meester de Betzenbroeck is an animal sculptor, from a family of artists and draughtsmen. Raymond was born in Mechelen (Belgium) on 1 December 1904. From an early age he was fascinated by the representation of animals. The animal sculptor Albéric Collin (1886-1962), whom he met after his studies, encouraged him in this direction. A perfectionist, he assiduously visited the zoo of Antwerp and the menageries of circuses, where he drew much of his inspiration, studying the morphology, attitudes, and movements of animals. He drew from life and then transposed them into three dimensions in his Brussels studio. He transcends his work admirably by perfectly capturing the expression of the animals and the vivacity of their movements. He was later described as the “sculptor of movement and feelings”. Success came quickly. At the age of twenty-two, in March 1927, he exhibited for the first time at the Petite Galerie, avenue Louise in Brussels. Shortly afterwards, he was co-opted as a member of the Cercle des Beaux-Arts de Liège. In 1930 he became a member of the “Le Lierre” group and of the Cercle Artistique de Bruxelles, he exhibited in Ixelles, Namur, Louvain, Malines, and Brussels. The Belgian State commissioned him to make a colossal work for the colonial pavilion of the Antwerp International Exhibition: a fourteen-meter-long scene, with 17 animals and 35 figures, representing the capture and training of elephants. The Brussels International and Universal Exhibition of 1935 was a great springboard for him. For the leather industries pavilion, he created a magnificent monumental bison measuring six meters in length. For the Congo pavilion, he created an impressive gorilla. For the Water Exhibition in Liège in 1939, he created a “seated white bear”. For the Tervuren Park, he made “Two reclining deer”. A major work is the “Roaring Lion” that he executed for the Brussels World Fair in 1958 (currently in the Malou Park in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert). His career was marked by more than 80 exhibitions around the world. The talent of Raymond de Meester, a self-taught artist, is recognized for his great qualities, his sense of observation, and the affection he has for animals.