GERARD GAUDAEN

GERARD GAUDAEN (WINKE BESARD)

In the front of The Royal Athenaeum (Forum Da Vinci) we can admire the statue of Gerard Gaudaen.

Gerard Gaudaen was born in Sint-Niklaas in 1927 and died in his home city in 2003. He was a famous Belgian specialist of lino cut, wood engraving and bookplates (ex-LIBRIS).  . He was an arts teacher at the Royal Athenaeum of Sint-Niklaas and later, as co-founder of the Ex-LIBRIS centre in Sint-Niklaas, became well-known and -loved in Art Societies in Sint-Niklaas.

Winke Besard avoids set patterns. Her sculptures breathe and take their space naturally. For the statue of ‘Gerard Gaudaen’ she had to use existing photos as a reference. The work, appearing to grow out of the rough stone, invites the spectator to join the artist in her thinking, musing and searching. It prompts the spectator to ‘encounter’. At the same time, Gaudaen seems to guard over ‘his’ Royal Athenaeum, the school where he was an arts teacher for many years. The students of the institute might feel a certain kinship and thus feel ‘greeted’ by Gaudaen.

BESARD Winke (1979)
Winke Besard, daughter of Hugo Besard, a well-known Antwerp graphic artist of international fame, studied ‘Free Visual Arts’ at secondary Arts School in Antwerp. She then studied ‘Free Visual Arts/Sculpture’ at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where she was a student of, amongst others, Wilfried Pas. She studied as teacher on academic level. Since finishing her studies she has received several awards: First Prize ‘Werminval vzw’ in 2003, an ‘Honourable mention Prize for Visual Arts Marc Macken’ in 2004, First Prize and Public award ‘1st triennial Brasschaat’ in 2005 and an Honourable mention on the ‘Prize Recognition of Merit Ernest Albert’, Cultural Centre Mechelen in 2008-. Tussen Vertwijfeling en Hoop’ (Between Despair and Hope - 2008) , that found its place in the Heimolen cemetery in Sint-Niklaas is inspired by intuitive feeling and, in its strong expressiveness, depicts an inner battle.

Kunst in de Stad – October 13^th 2013