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Albéric Collin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Olympic medal record
Art competitions
Gold medal – first place 1920 Antwerp Sculpture

Albéric Collin (6 April 1886 – 27 February 1962) was a Belgian animalier sculptor and pastel artist.

Biography

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Collin was born in Antwerp and was educated there, training in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where among his teachers was Josuë Dupon. He was a member of the Antwerp Group. He was a close friend of the Italian animalier Rembrandt Bugatti, who was based in Antwerp for several years before World War I. Like Bugatti, Collin frequented Antwerp Zoo, which was for him an inexhaustible source of inspiration.[1]

Work

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Collin's oeuvre, except for his youngest years, consisted exclusively of prolific sculpted animals, both wild and domestic. His statuettes were often cast in bronze by the lost wax process.[1]

His most visible works are the 12 elephants created for a bridge in Antwerp in 1930 and his Éléphant monté par des Noirs ("Elephant mounted by blacks"), a monumental sculpture in concrete, created on the occasion of the Brussels International Exposition (1935) and exhibited in front of the pavilion of the Belgian Congo designed by René Schoentjes. The figures of the black Africans represent members of the Mangbetu people. After the end of the exhibition the sculpture was set up opposite the Royal Museum for Central Africa at Tervuren.[2]

Elephant in front of the museum at Tervuren

Prizes

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Salons

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Olympics

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In 1920 Collin won a gold medal in the art competition of the Olympic Games held in Antwerp for his sculpture "La Force" ("Strength").[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b C. Engelen and M. Marx, Beeldhouwkunst in België vanaf 1830, Brussel 2002, pp. 268–270
  2. ^ L'orientalisme et l'africanisme dans l'art belge . 19e et 20e siècle, exhibition catalogue, Brussels, Galerie CGER, 14 September - 11 November 1984
  3. ^ René Édouard-Joseph, Dictionnaire biographique des artistes contemporains, tome 1, A-E, Art & Édition, 1930, p. 308
  4. ^ "Albéric Collin". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 July 2020.

Further reading

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