Jules Lagae

Jules Lagae (Roulers, 15 March 1862 – Bruges, 2 June 1931) was a Belgian sculptor and medallist, born in Roeselare.

The family had six children who reached adulthood and lived in the Zwanestraat, a side street of Ooststraat in Roeselare.

His artistic talent was noticed early on and from the age of nine he also took lessons at the local Academy of Drawing and Architecture.

As a result, he received grants to further develop his skills at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels.

He was taught by various masters of the time, such as Jean-Joseph Jaquet and Charles Van der Stappen.

Lagae thus ended up in conservative art circles and was not spared by the progressive impressionist artists who were making their ascent at the time.

Lagae made various kinds of sculptures, but through his realism he became skilled in busts and medallions, among other things.

One of his best-known works from his early career is undoubtedly the bust of the Flemish poet Guido Gezelle commissioned by Verriest.

At the beginning of the 20th century, he was one of the artists who was allowed to work on the Triumphal Arch in the Cinquantenaire Park in Brussels.

Together with architect Eugène D'Huicque, he took part in an international competition for a monumental memorial in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the occasion of the centenary of the country's independence.

Well-known busts from that time are also those of Prince Albert, Ferdinand Callebert and Hugo Verriest.

Lagae's daughter-in-law, who had fled to France, committed shortly thereafter suicide and left a son.

Other monumental works were added, such as bas-reliefs for the Belgian pavilion at the World Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro in 1922-23.

To celebrate the centenary of Gezelle's birth, the city of Bruges wanted a full-length portrait of the poet.