Lynen Amédée Ernest

Amédée Lynen was a Belgian artist, born in Sint-Joost-ten-Noode in 1852 and died in Brussels in 1938. He was a painter, draftsman, watercolourist, lithographer and illustrator. He worked for a period as a typesetter, decorator and painter of signs. He took lessons at the Academy in Brussels under the guidance of P. Lauters and J. Stallaert (1866-1868). He painted genre scenes, but was mainly active as a graphic artist and illustrator. With short, fine strokes of the pen he drew anecdotal scenes with great accuracy. His book illustrations, usually small sketches between the text in pencil or pen, were sometimes enhanced with watercolor. He cherished a great predilection for picturesque and popular corners of Brussels, the Marolles in particular. He designed posters and programs for revues, puppet theatre, shadow plays and operettas. He illustrated, among others, La légende d'Uylenspiegel (Ch. De Coster), Les Flamandes (E. Verhaeren), Les vertus bourgeoises (H. Carton de Wiart). In 1880, Amédée Lynen was co-founder of the Circle L'Essor, he was also a member of the Société Royale Belge des Aquarellistes van Pour l'Art. After 1880 he mainly contributed to various magazines, such as L'Artiste and the satirical Le diable au corps, which was closed down in 1895, but survived spiritually under his leadership as the cabaret of the same name. We find his work in the museums in Liège, Brussels and Antwerp, among others. He is mentioned in BAS I and Two centuries of signatures of Belgian artists. (Piron)