Les Saisons Viriles

Thanks to Michel Demoortel, the King Baudouin Foundation has been able to further enrich its collection with this magnificent bronze by Victor Rousseau, which has now been entrusted to the Museum of Art & History in Brussels.

Victor Rousseau (Feluy 1865 – Forest 1954) is widely recognised as one of the most talented and productive sculptors of his generation. Over the course of his impressive career, he received a number of prestigious awards and created a total of some three hundred works, including busts, bas-reliefs and monumental sculptures.

In Les Saisons Viriles (the Virile Seasons), which was produced in 8 examples, he combines symbolic elements, such as the figures’ mystical facial expressions, with greater stylization, something that gained importance after the First World War. The refined folds in the sculpture, as well as the flowers and fruit, show his evolution towards a more decorative approach, although the monumental power of his sculptures remained intact.

Victor Rousseau grew up in a family of stonemasons and he continued in that tradition. He began working as a stonemason at a very young age and worked on the building of the Palais de Justice in Brussels. Later, he took sculpture lessons at the studio of sculptor Georges Houtstont and drawing lessons at the Academy of Arts in Sint-Joost-ten-Node. Not long after, he became apprenticed to the renowned sculptor Charles Van der Stappen. His talent was soon recognised and in 1890 he won the prestigious Godecharle Prize.

Rousseau moved to Forest (Brussels) and became friends with the painter Jean Delville. Together, they founded the artists’ group Pour L’Art (For Art) in 1892. The elongated, androgynous figures of Rousseau’s sculptures exhibit clear parallels with Delville’s art. Rousseau’s career spanned several decades and brought him international success, including having his work exhibited at the Venice Biennale and the Vienna Secession.

Rousseau worked primarily in terracotta, marble and bronze. He created monumental sculptures, large monuments and bas-reliefs, but also smaller statues and busts. His style was strongly influenced by classical sculpture and this is seen in works such as The Virile Seasons. Victor Rousseau’s oeuvre reflects a subtle transition from Symbolism to a classically-inspired modernity, through which he made a lasting impression on the world of sculpture.