Eugène Simonis

Eugène Simonis, lithograph by Charles Baugniet published in Les Artistes Contemporains (1836)

Godfrey of Bouillon, Royal Square, 1848

Louis-Eugène Simonis (11 July 1810, in Liège – 22 November 1893, in Koekelberg) was a Belgian sculptor.^[1]

Career

Simonis studied under François-Joseph Dewandre at the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Liège and at the age of nineteen went to Italy, where he continued his studies in Bologna and Rome.^[2] When he returned to Belgium he accepted an instructor position at the Liege Academy. Later he moved to Brussels, where he became the director of the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts. Among his many students were the Belgian sculptors Thomas Vinçotte, Julien Dillens, and Charles Samuel.

The square in Brussels, where Simonis had his studio, was given the name Eugène Simonis Square in his honor. A metro station in Brussels, completed in 1982, bears his name. In 2007, a bust of Simonis by Annie Junger was unveiled at Simonis Square.^[3]

Honours

• 1881: Grand Officer in the Order of Leopold.^[4]

Selected works

Mons

• Leopold I of Belgium, at the railway station

Bruges

• Simon Stevin, 1846, Simon Stevinplein (Brugge)

Brussels

• Godfrey of Bouillon (1848), Royal Square
• Sculptures for the Congress Column, including a number of lions. (The statue of King Leopold on top of the column was made by Jean Geefs.)
• Bas-relief L'Harmonie des Passions humaines decorant (Harmony of the Arts) on the pediment of the La Monnaie theatre.

Liege

• André Dumont, (1886)
• Walthère Frère-Orban,

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Notes

References

• Jordens-Leroy, Chantal (1990) Un sculpteur belge du XIXe Siecle: Louis-Eugene Simonis Academie Royale de Belgique, Brussels, ISBN 2-8031-0083-5