MINNE, GEORGE

(1866-1941)

The sculptor and illustrator George Minne was born in Ghent on 30 August 1866. He studied there and at theAcadémie royale des Beaux-Artsin Brussels from 1895 to 1899. From 1890, he exhibited withLes XXand, beginning in 1898, withLa Libre Esthétique. Minne is noted for the emotional power of his works, including many images of a maternal figure mourning her dead child (Mèrepleurant son enfant mort[1886]). His most popularsculptureisFontaine des agenouillés(Fountain of the kneeling youth [1899]). Minne was hailed by symbolist writers such as Maurice Maeterlinck and Émile Verhaeren, whose works he illustrated. He lived in Brussels from 1895 to 1899 and then moved to Sint-Martens-Latem, near Ghent, where he died on 18 February 1941.