Charles van oemberg 'venus' sculpture of a female nude with drapery, terracotta, c.

Elegant terracotta sculpture representing a young naked woman standing, leaning against a rocky element animated by a drapery. The supple and slightly swaying pose, with her face raised and hair styled up, places the work within the academic tradition of the second half of the 19th century. The smooth and idealised modelling of the body contrasts with the freer treatment of the rock, fabrics, and hair, giving the whole piece more movement. The subject may evoke a nymph, a bather, or a mythological figure. Terracotta, height 39 cm, in good condition. Signed on the terrace "Van Oemberg", it dates from the late 19th century, around 1870. Charles Van Oemberg: Charles Joseph Van Oemberg (1824-1901) was a Belgian sculptor trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels under Louis Jehotte, and then in the workshop of Charles-Auguste Fraikin. He exhibited at the Salons of Brussels and Antwerp and notably participated in the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris. His work lies between late neoclassicism, academic romanticism, and naturalism. His female figures can be compared to those of Fraikin, Charles Van der Stappen, or Léon Gobert in Belgium, and, in France, to sculptors like Alexandre Falguière or Carrier-Belleuse. Van Oemberg worked primarily in marble, bronze, and terracotta. He became a professor of sculpture at the Academy of Mons in 1883. This sculpture, through its subject, material, and format, fits perfectly within the context of academic Belgian sculpture at the end of the 19th century.