Rare Art Nouveau Oak Fireplace Mirror By Geo Vervanck With Faceted Mirror, Circa 1900

Belgium / 1920 / Chimney mirror / Geo Verbanck / Oak / Art Deco / Art Nouveau

Large Art Nouveau mirror with facet cut mirror, subtle carvings and black and white inlay on the oak frame. This generous sized mirror was designed and crafted by the Belgian Artist Geo Verbanck in the 1920s.

Geo Verbanck was born in Ghent on 28 February 1881. He studied art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. Geo Verbanck gradually became better known, partly through his participation in national and international exhibitions. In 1912 he was assigned the design of the Monument in honour of the Van Eyck brothers in Ghent, together with architect Valentin Vaerwyck, and that meant Verbanck's definitive breakthrough as an artist. In 1941 Verbanck was awarded the state prize "Grand Prize of the Plastic Arts" for his entire oeuvre. Verbanck is considered one of the last classical sculptors and "le poète de l'élégance". His broad craft training allowed him to create works in a variety of materials. His oeuvre includes works in plaster, bronze, various types of stone (Arduin, marble, Euville (limestone)), ivory and various types of wood such as oak, lime and palm.

His education at the academies in Ghent and Brussels allowed him to develop his own sensitive figurative style in which a classical purity, harmony and an intuitive sense of the right dimension were paramount.