The works of the acclaimed Belgian artist Eugeen Van Mieghem go on display to Irish audiences for the first time this week, via a major new exhibition at Dublin's Hugh Lane Gallery.
Eugeen Van Mieghem: Port Life (which runs at the Hugh Lane until 11 June 2017) provides a fascinating visual account of the pulsating life of the Port of Antwerp at the turn of the 20th century. Featuring more than 70 paintings, drawings and prints, this formidable body of work provides a unique social history, depicting the life of the artist and exploring universal themes of migration, globalisation, and the working port community – themes that resonate with Dublin as a port city in Europe today (the exhibition is supported by Dublin Port Company, as part of its ongoing Port Perspectives arts commissioning series).
Here, Van Mieghem (1875 – 1930) illustrates the harsh labour conditions of dockers, porters and sack-sewers at the time of mechanisation, empathises with the plight of refugees under German occupation, observes the colourful characters that frequented his parents’ quayside tavern, and documents the social life of one of Europe's great cities. The artist’s personal life is also revealed through drawings and paintings documenting his first wife, Augustine, who became ill with tuberculosis and died at the age of just 24.
Click the image above to view selections from Eugeen Van Mieghem: Port Life.
Image courtesy of Eugene Van Meighem Museum, Provincial Government House, Antwerp & Museum Plantin-Moretus/Prentenkabinet, Antwerp
