Biographies

Maurice Wagemans (1877 – 1927) He was a Belgian impressionist who took refuge in Chelsea during the war. Information from : http://www.klm-mra.be/Canada/English/Gallerij/Wagemans/Wagemans.htm He trained at the Academy of Brussels from 1890 to 1895 under Jean Portaels. He rapidly made a name for himself and became an associate member of the Société nouvelle des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the Artists Association in London. He was a volunteer in the Brussels Civic Guard, and then fled to England, where he volunteered for the war in 1915. A nude by him was exhibited at the Belgian Art in Exile exhibition, held in London in 1916. As from July 1916, he was a member of the Section Artistique, from which he was posted for a few months in 1918 to join the Canadian army, like his friend Bastien. He participated in the Exposition des peintres du front belge in Switzerland in 1917, with fifteen works. Some works were used as letterheads for the Asile des soldats invalides belges (Asylum for Injured Belgian War Veterans). After the war, he presented a personal exhibition of war art in Brussels at the Studio gallery in May 1919, showing sixty-four works.