Young Girl With A Hat Georges Van Der Straeten

Georges Van der Straeten was first a lawyer until 1882 and then a pupil of the sculptor Jef Lambeaux3,4. He moved to Paris in 1883. The Agenda of Curiosity, Artists and Amateurs mentions that he lived in 20, rue de Vintimille in 1889 then at 9, avenue Hoche in 1910. He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1885 until 1912. He worked and became friends with Jan van Beers5,6. This friendship will lead him to find the true formula of his talent which allowed him to know the fame in the pleasant genre of the representation of the Parisian woman. He won various awards, including a silver medal at the Universal Exhibition of 1900 in Paris. He was named Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1903. Georges Van der Straeten demonstrated great technical mastery in his creations and a high quality finish. He produced many portraits, graceful and enticing fantasy figures of young Parisian women where, according to Pierre Kjellberg, we "find the amiable style of eighteenth-century sculptors"7This artist is representative of the Belle Époque, a period when Art new, international artistic movement that breaks with academic production. In this sense, it constitutes a new way of expressing oneself perfectly in phase with this period of political, social, technological and intellectual innovation. Van der Straeten's works are published in large numbers, in different sizes and under very varied titles, by several founders, in particular the Société des bronzes de Paris, the founder Pinedo8 and the ceramist Friedrich Goldscheider.