Jacques Marin

JACQUES MARIN (Brussels, 1877 - Nivelles, 1950).
"Busts".
Gilded bronze and onyx bases.
Stamped on the back.
Measurements: 34 x 13 x 12 cm (2).
Pair of female busts made in gilded bronze. Both represent girls of childish face, endowed with a certain sweetness in the forms. Each one of them wears a tunic in the classical manner defined by the technique of wet cloths, which in both cases allows a glimpse of one of the breasts of each protagonist. One of them has a crown of branches and grapes in allusion to Bacchus, so she could be identified as a Bacchante, while the other young woman wears a crown of roses, associated with Aphrodite.
Jacques Marin studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. He won several prizes, including the prestigious Godecharle in 1897 for his statue The Earth, which would lead him to international success. He was also awarded the second prize in Rome in 1903. He was a professor and later director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. His main theme was women, always treated through various stylistic languages: from neo-Greek inspiration to Art Nouveau, through Neoclassicism and even symbolism. He was a member of the "Les Vrais Amis de l'Union et du Progrès Réunis" lodge in Brussels. He decorated numerous public buildings in Brussels with his creations, such as the Danaïdes fountain in the rue Victor Horta, the allegories of the triumphal arch of the Cinquantenaire or the statue on the façade of the City Hall.