Art Nouveau Cabinet, Commode or mirrored Sideboard by Geo Verbanck, Belgium

Belgium / 1920 / Cabinet / Geo Verbanck / oak, copper, marble / Art Deco / Art Nouveau. An Art Nouveau cabinet, chest of drawers or sideboard with mirror designed by Geo Verbanck, a Belgian artist, in the 1920s. Beautifully executed in warm oak with a grey marble top and shelve and above it a large mirror with subtle wood carving. This very special sideboard has ample storage space; six smaller drawers, three on each side, one large drawer underneath and a cabinet with two doors in between the smaller drawers. - This cabinet has artistic sculptured copper plates on the two doors designed by Verbanck. The chests of drawers are fitted with beautiful Art Nouveau style fittings and the mirror is flanked by two large birds in wood carving. In overall very good conditions but with soms small wear marks due to age. Geo Verbanck was born in Ghent on 28 February 1881. He studied art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. Geo Verbanck gradually became better known, partly through his participation in national and international exhibitions. In 1912 he was assigned the design of the Monument in honour of the Van Eyck brothers in Ghent, together with architect Valentin Vaerwyck, and that meant Verbanck's definitive breakthrough as an artist. In 1941 Verbanck was awarded the state prize "Grand Prize of the Plastic Arts" for his entire oeuvre. Verbanck is considered one of the last classical sculptors and "le poète de l'élégance". His broad craft training allowed him to create works in a variety of materials. His oeuvre includes works in plaster, bronze, various types of stone (Arduin, marble, Euville (limestone)), ivory and various types of wood such as oak, lime and palm. His education at the academies in Ghent and Brussels allowed him to develop his own sensitive figurative style in which a classical purity, harmony and an intuitive sense of the right dimension were paramount. Ref. 25-0182.