Émile Verhaeren: the quest for the artistic and cultural identity in Belgium

Abstract

Émile Verhaeren was one of the most important poets of the Leopoldine generation in Belgium, and a committed art critic. His career started in 1881 with his apprenticeship with Edmond Picard in Brussels, the leader of the group of artists, writers and activists who sought to liberate Belgian public life from the undue influence of Paris. His articles published in many Belgian journals were collected and published by Paul Aron in 1997 in the volume titled Écrits sur l’art (1881–1916). Their analysis carried out in comparison with his poetic texts allows us to see him as an artist open to new aesthetic ideas and an activist fighting for freedom of expression in art. The key aspect of Verhaeren’s approach towards painting and literature is the recognition and better appreciation of the Early Flemish painting tradition as the basis to create the identity of the Belgians. His views on art inseparable from the construction of a national identity can be interpreted as a part of the Norse mythology developed by another important Belgian writer, Maurice Maeterlinck in the manuscript from 1888 called Cahier Bleu.