Constant Permeke

Constant Permeke (Dutch: [kɔ̃ˈstɑ̃ː pɛrˈmeːkə]; 31 July 1886 – 4 January 1952) was a Belgian painter and sculptor who is considered the leading figure of Flemish expressionism.

Permeke was born in Antwerp but when he was six years old the family moved to Ostend. Here his father, a landscape painter, founded in 1893 the Municipal Museum of Arts of which he became the curator. Permeke studied at the Bruges Academy from 1903 to 1906 and then at the Academy in Ghent from 1906 to 1908. Here he met Frits Van den Berghe and the brothers Gustave De Smet and Léon De Smet. He was drafted into the Belgian army and served in a university company that was quartered in Sint-Martens-Latem. After his military service ended in March 1908, Permeke returned to Ostend where he roomed together with another artist, Gustave De Smet. In 1909 he returned to Sint-Martens-Latem where he lived as a recluse. His work of this period is characterized by his heavy brush and gains its expressive force through muted tonality and brutal forms. In 1912 Permeke married Maria Delaere and the newlyweds settled in Ostend.

When World War I broke out, Permeke was mobilized. During the defense of Antwerp he was wounded in action near the town of Duffel. His wounds forced his evacuation to the United Kingdom where he was in hospital at South Hillwood. After his release from hospital he was reunited with his family in Folkestone, where his son John was born. In 1916 he moved to in Devonshire and started painting again, mostly colorful English landscapes. After the end of the war, the Permeke family returned to Ostend in 1919. In contrast to the happy time in Devonshire, the harsh reality of the worker's life turned Permeke's work back to a gloomier mood as he mainly painted the harsh fisherman's life.

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