Background
Constantin Meunier was born on April 12, 1831, in the traditionally working-class area of Etterbeek, Brussels.
Constantin Meunier was born on April 12, 1831, in the traditionally working-class area of Etterbeek, Brussels.
Meunier entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels in September 1845. He studied under the sculptor Louis Jehotte from 1848. He also attended from 1852 the private studio of the sculptor Charles-Auguste Fraikin.
Meunier began his career as a sculptor, but during the years 1857–1884 he pursued only painting. After visiting some mines and factories, Meunier demonstrated in his paintings a humanitarian interest in labourers, focusing particularly on the miners of the Borinage, dockworkers of Antwerp, metalworkers, and women labourers.
In 1882, under the sponsorship of the Belgian government, Meunier went to Spain, where he produced paintings primarily on religious subjects. After returning to Belgium, he began to explore in bronze sculpture the social themes that had dominated his earlier paintings. The empathy and respect with which he viewed his subjects (e. g. , The Fire-Damp Explosion, 1887) renders Meunier’s work universal rather than political. His notable works include The Docker (1905) and a large sculptural group, Monument to Labour, which was installed in the Place de Trooz, Brussels, in 1930.
Constantin Emile Meunier died on April 4, 1905, in Brussels.
Constantin Meunier was a freemason, and a member of the lodge Les Amis Philanthropes of the Grand Orient of Belgium in Brussels.