In 2011, the Ghent sculptor Geo Verbanck died fifty years ago. In homage to the artist, who was most famous in the interwar period, the MSK filled a room with works from its own collection. Verbanck was a very versatile artist: besides sculpting statues, he also designed medals and plaques.
He taught at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, where he had previously studied. One of the subjects he taught was sculpture from life in the “Department for Young Ladies”. In 1909, he was awarded second place in the Prix de Rome for a sculpture of Orpheus. The City of Ghent was so excited about the prize that they immediately ordered a reduction of the statue from the artist. This magnificent wooden statue is exhibited along with the preparatory plaster cast. Woman and child are his favourite themes. The sculptures are rendered in different materials: wood, bronze and marble.