Ernest FAUT (Gand, 1879 – Louvain, 1961) Orphée et Eurydice s’envolant avec Pégase

Trained at the Brussels Academy under the Symbolist painter Constant Montald, Ernest Faut then studied at the Leuven Academy under the sculptor Constantin Meunier. Marked by melancholy, his works all display a powerful technique modulated by a delicate and sensitive chromatic palette, entirely in chiaroscuro. In the 1930s, his work consisted primarily of Symbolist scenes in the Art Nouveau style. Having become a professor and then director for forty years until 1944 at the Leuven Academy, Ernest Faut's works are exhibited in several Belgian museums, notably the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent and the Museum of Fine Arts in Leuven. This exceptional set of four monumental drawings, executed with exquisite and delicate technique, is being shown for the first time and recounts the tragic love story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Having inspired numerous works of art, music, and literature throughout the centuries, this tale symbolizes the power of love, the pain of loss, and the fragility of the human condition. Imbued with the esoteric idealism of Jean Delville, Faut chooses here to reinterpret the myth through a biblical lens. Elegant and androgynous, his neo-Greek figures reflect a quest for spirituality and eternity. Their serpentine bodies oscillate between purity and sensuality. Carried to the heavens by Pegasus, Eurydice here sorrowfully crowns her lover. A white, winged, and divine horse, Pegasus embodies freedom and elevation, his wings allowing him to rise above earthly concerns and reach spiritual heights. Often associated with the Muses, Pegasus is also considered an emblem of poetic inspiration and creativity. As for his white coat, it signifies purity and innocence. An immortal creature, it constitutes a symbol of transcendence. This iconography is part of the development of an art described as Idealist, close to Symbolism.