Alexander Struys
{{Short description|Belgian painter (1852–1941)}}
{{Infobox artist
|name=
|image=Alexander Struys.jpg
|caption=Alexander Struys in his study (c.1894)
|birth_name=
|birth_date={{Birth date|1852|1|24|df=y}}
|birth_place=Berchem, Belgium
|death_date={{Death date and age|1941|3|25|1852|1|24|df=y}}
|death_place=Uccle, Belgium
|occupation=Painter
|education=Academy of Dordrecht
|parents=
|spouse=
|relatives=
}}
Alexander Theodore Honoré Struys (24 January 1852, Berchem – 25 March 1941, Uccle) was a Belgian genre and portrait painter in the Realistic style.
Biography
Struys' father (originally from Holland) was a master glass painter. At the age of six, he was already a student at the Academy of Dordrecht.[https://books.google.com/books?id=SaEaAAAAYAAJ Review and Biographical notes] by Fernand Khnopff from "The Studio, Vols. 41-42", Pgs.283-288. Later, Struys was a student of Polydore Beaufaux and Jozef Van Lerius at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.[http://www.schoonselhof.be/schoonselhofns/struys%20alexander.html Alexander Struys; Brief biography] by Ulf Forsberg @ Schoonselhof. 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.
The year after, Struys 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. 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.
Working without a studio, Struys 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|date=July 2015}}
Struys 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
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External links
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- Emile Wesly, [https://web.archive.org/web/20150923235921/http://www.elseviermaandschrift.nl/EGM/1894/01/18940101/EGM-18940101-0008/story.pdf Alexander Struys], from Elsevier's geïllustreerd maandschrift, 1894
- Max Rooses, [https://archive.org/stream/oudeennieuwekuns00roos#page/205/mode/1up « Alexander Struys »], in: Oude en nieuwe kunst, Ghent, Boekhandel J. Vuylsteke, 1896, p. 205-220.
- "Struys, Alexander". In: Friedrich von Boetticher: Malerwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts. Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte, Vol. 2/2, Saal–Zwengauer. Boetticher’s Verlag, Dresden 1901, pp. 856–857 ([https://archive.org/details/malerwerkedesne01boetgoog/page/n864/mode/2up Online])
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Category:Belgian genre painters
Category:Social realist artists
Category:19th-century Belgian painters
Category:Belgian male painters
Category:19th-century Belgian male artists