Aerens Robert

Robert Aerens was a Belgian artist, born in Ghent in 1883 and died in Ghent in 1969. He was a painter and etcher and studied at the Academy in Ghent. In 1909 he married the poet Lisbeth Verwest (Ghent, 1886 – Afsnee, 1921). He painted portraits, interiors, still lifes, and landscapes. Early in his career, he was influenced by Emile Claus, but he later evolved towards a more expressionist style, close to the School of Sint-Martens-Latem. He was a friend of Servaes and Van den Berghe. In 1924 he became a teacher and later honorary teacher at the Academy in Ghent. From the press: “Like a golden thread running through his entire oeuvre, there is an old-fashioned, beneficial optimism, a modest happiness.” He is mentioned in BAS I and in Two Centuries of Signatures of Belgian Artists. (Piron)