Frans Deckers

Grote Markt of Herentals, statue in honor of the "Peasant Warrior", 1898

Frans Deckers (20 March 1835 – 18 October 1916)^[1] was a Belgian sculptor.

Life and work

Joannes Franciscus Deckers was born in Antwerp on 20 March 1835, to Jean François Deckers (born in Merksem, circa 1800), a baker, and Maria Catharina Stumpers (born in Eindhoven, circa 1804).

He married Maria Theresia Venesoen (Antwerp, 28 August 1839 – Antwerp, 8 April 1918) on 23 February 1865. They had six children. His son Edward also became a sculptor.^[2]

Frans Deckers studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where he was taught by Joseph Geefs. He mainly made idyllic sculptures with a romantic undertone.

In 1864 he won the Prix de Rome.^[3] From 1885 to 1916 he himself was a professor at the Antwerp Academy. He taught, among others, visual artist Egidius Ludovicus Everaerts [nl].^[4]

Deckers died in the fall of 1916 at the age of 81. He was interred in a family grave, at the Sint-Fredegandus cemetery in Deurne.

References

1. Devos, Filip (2007). Devos, Filip; Vandeputte, Omer (eds.). Gids voor Vlaanderen: toeristische en culturele gids voor alle steden en dorpen in Vlaanderen. Lannoo. p. 874. ISBN 9789020959635. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
2. "Jan Frans Deckers". RKD. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
3. De Vlaemsche school Volumes 12-14. J. Peeters-Van Genechtem. 1855. p. 203. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
4. van Wissing, P. W. (1998). Jacobs, I. D.; Kuys, J. A. E. (eds.). Biografisch woordenboek Gelderland bekende en onbekende mannen en vrouwen uit de Gelderse geschiedenis · Part 9. Verloeren. p. 45. ISBN 9789087043216. Retrieved 2 December 2021.