Gustave de smet biography channel

Born in Ghent, Gust. De Smet became familiar with the painting profession via the house-painting atelier of his father. His brother, the artist Leon De Smet, was born four years later.

In the 1890s, Gustave was involved with the decoration of the exterior of the Spitzner museum, a famous fairground attraction of the time. Between 1889 and 1897, the young man was given the opportunity to attend school at the Academy for the Fine Arts of his native city.

Gustave de smet biography channel

In contrast to Valerius De Saedeleer and George Minne, he was not a part of the anarchistic and socialist movement. In these early years, he worked to earn a living, a living provided by the bourgeoisie. He married Augusta van Hoorebeke on 19 February 1898; their son Firmin would later die in a train accident during the First World War.

Around 1906, he became friends with Frits Van den Berghe and Constant Permeke in the Ghent working-class district of Patershol.

These friendships would last for life. At the beginnin