ABSTRACT
The Academies of Brussels and Antwerp were the most dominant art education facilities in the country, even though they positioned themselves differently within the national art scene. While the chryselephantine sculptures as well as Meunier's Monument au Travail can today be considered as artistic expressions originating in a past social and economic reality, the nineteenth century, Antwerp Academy had often also looked to its own past to legitimize its policy. The sculpture class at the Academy of Brussels under the guidance of Charles Van der Stappen did have a successful international reputation. In 1898, Van der Stappen was elected as the director of the Academy for a period of three years. Both Belgian and foreign students still attended his classes after 1895, and they sometimes extended their education in their master's private studio. Those sculptors who did travel abroad, as in years prior, aimed for a grant to finance their sojourn, or sometimes relied on their personal funding.
