André Willequet (1921-1998) was born in Brussels, spending his formative childhood years near the forests of Luxembourg, where he first discovered a lifelong passion for wood carving. Upon returning to Brussels in 1940, he entered the prestigious Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels, La Cambre, studying under Oscar Jespers. Although he found the rigid academic curriculum challenging, this period fostered crucial professional relationships, notably a lifelong alliance with future museum curator Philippe Roberts-Jones.
The post-war era accelerated his professional trajectory. In 1947, Willequet initiated his first major stone carvings and secured the second Rome Prize, a distinction that funded vital research travel through France. This journey facilitated seminal interactions with modern masters Constantin Brancusi, Henri Laurens, and Ossip Zadkine, which profoundly refined his spatial philosophy. By 1951, his achievements earned him the Louis Schmidt Prize and a British Council scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London, an experience that reinvigorated his dedication to exploiting the organic, structural complexities of wood.
Willequet established his permanent studio-house in Uccle in 1954, transitioning into a highly productive phase characterized by a profound exploration of positive and negative space. Following a successful collaborative exhibition with Lismonde, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels organized his first major solo exhibition in 1956, showcasing mature, refined forms centered on themes of sacredness and human connection. His expanding institutional reputation culminated in a prestigious public commission for the 1958 Brussels Universal Exhibition, where he designed a monumental decorative panel for the Benelux Gate. Throughout his subsequent career, Willequet sustained a distinguished legacy as both an educator and a pioneer of Belgian abstraction, beautifully balancing material integrity with architectural environments.
© 2026. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by André Willequet or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only
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| Grande Naïade. 1955 |
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| Eve. 1956 |
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| Eve. 1956 |
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| Eve. 1956 |
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| Grande Naïade. 1956 |
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| Homme cassé (Broken Man). 1956 |
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| Untitled. 1959 |
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| L'oiseau (The Bird). 1960 |
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| L'oiseau (The Bird). 1960 |
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| Le Romain. 1962 |
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| Colonne d'amour. 1962 |
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| Le Grand Totem. 1962 |
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| Le poisson (The Fish). 1962 |
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| Le poisson (The Fish). 1962 |
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| Stèle. 1962 |
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| Grand oiseau. 1964 |
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| Fleur. 1964 |
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| Icarus. 1964 |
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| Pierrot. 1967 |
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| Untitled. 1968 |
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| Mouvements. 1969 |
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| Signe. 1970 |
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| Polyphème, le cyclope. 1975 |
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| Charrue (Plough). 1976 |
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| Composition. 1979 |
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| Untitled. 1981 |
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| Espace Oriflamme. 1986 |
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| Espace Oriflamme. 1986 |
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| Passage. 1994 |
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