Michel Van Cuyck

The latter, however, was not impressed by what he described as the "deceptive sponge and drawing technique of this dull, boring and stillborn business".

Van Cuyck made a series of paintings, depicting it on the beach, and drawings of the dissection process, which accompanied an exhibition of the whale's skeleton.

It was purchased by a local philanthropist named Herman Kessels who toured with it and Van Cuyck's drawings for almost four decades.

During the years following independence, King Leopold I transformed Ostend into a sort of Royal Residence, which developed into a fashionable seaside resort.

He also painted Flemish fairs and landscapes, primarily in Walloon Brabant, in Biedermeier style.