JULIEN DILLENS (Antwerp, 1849-Brussels, 1904). Young... Lot 41

JULIEN DILLENS (Antwerp, 1849-Brussels, 1904). Young woman with scarf. Patinated bronze bust on stepped rouge marble base. Signed J. Dillens on her scarf. Measurements: 61 cm. (total) x 36 x 28 cm. Julien Dillens was a Belgian sculptor who was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1887 for Chef gaulois fait prisonnier des Romains. He is the author, among others, of the monument to Everard t'Serclaes and La Porteuse d'eau. His uncle Adolphe-Alexandre Dillens and his painter father made him interested in art. He studied with Eugène Simonis at the Académie Royale des beaux-arts de Bruxelles. One of his first works, the sculptural decoration of the Brussels Stock Exchange, was made in collaboration with the young Rodin and his teacher, Carrier-Belleuse, in 1870. He obtained important distinctions; for example, the Prix de Rome in 1877, the medal of honor at the Paris universal exhibitions of 1889 and 1900. During his stay in Italy, due to the Prix de Rome, he received the impact of Renaissance sculpture. Among his best-known works are the statue of the lawyer Hipólito Metdepenning, located in front of the Palace of Justice in Ghent; The Laurel, in the Botanical Garden of Brussels, and, in this same city, The Four Seasons, in front of the Maison du Renard, in the emblematic square known as Grande-Place. Lagae, who greatly admired Dillens, made a monument to his memory in 1911, at the initiative of his friends and colleagues, among whom, of course, was our sculptor. This work is located in the Meeus square in Brussels.