Francine Van Mieghem

1930 – 1923

From 1948 to 1952 Francine Van Mieghem (Ostend, °1930) studied with Maurice Boel at the Academy of Ostend. To perfect her skills, she went to Ter Kameren (1952-1956), where she became a pupil of Pierre Caille (ceramics) and Paul Delvaux (live model). From 1957, she became a student and model of George Grard, whom she later married. In 1984, she became a ceramics teacher at the Westhoek Academy.

Grard had a great impact on Francine Van Mieghem, yet through her persistence and obstinacy, she managed to build a personal sculptural world with very personal touches.

Her nudes, mostly executed in bronze, transcend physical likeness and realism and attempt to penetrate to the deeper reality of existence. Her figures appear frail and lively, slightly tormented and to a great extent sensitive. Francine Van Mieghem barely touches up the rough geut of her bronze sculptures, yet they stand out for their gracefulness and poetic language of form. Her sculptures exude a primitive power, with the rough structure providing a dramatic accent.