Have it delivered hassle-freeBuyer protectionAll Designer items curated by WhoppahDownload the Whoppah App – get alerts & sell with ease.
"Seize life" Willy Meysmans Copper engraving on vellum
€400Bid from €198
Buy with confidence
Shop & pay safely with our Buyer ProtectionDesigner items curated by WhoppahWe only pay the seller once you have safely received the itemTrusted payment methods
About this seller
Tervuren, BelgiumOn Whoppah since February 2026 • 1 sale
Product description
"Seize Life"
Artist: Willy Meysmans
Copper engraving on vellum
1978
Copyright copy 12/40
31 x 24.5 cm
Very good condition
Sold from my own art collection
See description on Wikipedia
Willy Meysmans (Mechelen, March 10, 1930 – Leuven, December 21, 2024) was a Belgian sculptor who created, among other works, the statue "Fiere Margriet" (Proud Margaret) in Leuven in 1981.
Biography
Meysmans studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Mechelen. He learned ceramics from artists including Olivier Strebelle at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
In the 1960s, he lived in Carrara, Italy, where he created abstract sculptures. Afterward, he taught at the Academy in Leuven from 1964 to 1995, where, around 1970, he began modeling clay and making bronze statues using the lost-wax method. Meysmans exhibited at several exhibitions in Belgium and abroad (Western Europe and Africa).
Expo '58
In 1958, he created a monumental ceramic artwork for the Belgian Pavilion at the World's Fair in Brussels. He also created several ceramic artworks for private and public buildings.
Proud Margaret
In 1982, the Leuven Merchants' Association donated a statue of Margaret of Leuven to the city of Leuven. Meysmans was commissioned to create the statue of Proud Margaret, based on the legends. He depicted her as a naked woman floating on the water, carried by fish. The statue itself weighs over 200 kilograms and was displayed in a raised fountain at the intersection of Tiensestraat and Muntstraat. In 2000, the city received an unexpected invoice for posting photos of this statue on its website, citing a lack of freedom of panorama in Belgium.
Proud Margaret remained at that location for thirty years before seeking another one. After about a year in the city warehouse, she has been located on the terraces on the left bank of the Dyle River on Dirk Boutslaan since August 2013. The Leuven city council initially wanted to place the statue in the Dyle River, but did not receive permission from the Flemish Environment Agency. A second move to that park on the Dyle banks might follow once the Hertogen site is completed.
Specifications
ConditionExcellentColorsGreyMaterialPaperNumber of items1OrientationPortraitArt sizeSmallHeight31 cmWidth24 cm
Discover more
Seller information
About this seller
Tervuren, BelgiumOn Whoppah since February 2026 • 1 sale