Foes among friends? French sculptors chosen for Belgian public commissions

During the nineteenth century artists could experience boundaries within national borders. Consequently, foreign artists were often forced to rely on local or (inter)national alliances to obtain a public commission in Belgium, bargaining first on a local level, and sometimes resulting in a national debate. This is confirmed by three examples: (1) François Rude’s commissions in Brussels (1815–1827), (2) the case of Jules Bertin’s Ambiorix (1859–1866) in Tongeren, and (3) Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse’s involvement in the statue for Henri Leys (1869-1871) in Antwerp. In all these cases, the involvement of these French sculptors in the sculpture of a Belgian hero or a public commission caused serious protest by Belgian fellow artists. The discussions in the press, and the (un)official bargaining between artists and commissioners are examined, elucidating the importance, or in some cases hindrance, of artists’ connections and ‘alliances’, and the role nationality played in obtaining a public commission in Belgium