Pierre Jean Braecke [also known as Pieter Braecke, and as Peter Braecke] was born in Nieuwpoort, Belgium on 4 October 1859 and was the son of a carpenter. After working briefly as an apprentice of his father, in 1875 he entered the studio of sculptor Hendrik Pickery (1828-1894) in Bruges, where trained as a sculptor in clay, plaster, wood and marble until 1878. From 1878 to 1881 he studied the Académie in Louvain and in 1882 was awarded second place in the Prix de Rome. From c.1884 he worked in the workshop of the ornamentalist Georges Houtstont (1832-1912), In 1885 he exhibited for the first time at the Salons du cercle artistique L'Essor. From the late 1880s his work was preoccupied with social issues as evidenced by L'Aveugle (1890) a representation of a tried man, who embodies all the misery of the world; L'Hiver or the woodcutter (1892) and Femmes de pêcheur (1901).
In 1901 he commissioned Victor Horta (1861-1947) to design a house for him at 31, rue de l'Abdication in Brussels which was completed in 1903 and where he lived for many years. In the early 1900s Braecke began teaching at the Académie des beaux-arts in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, subsequently becoming director of the school. He also collaborated with Horta on various decorative art projects.
After World War One he worked on a number of war memorials and in 1925 he was elected to the Académie royale des beaux-arts, Classe des beaux-arts. He died in Nossegem, Belgium on 10 November 1938. A funerary monument to him was designed by Horta, assisted by the sculptor de Jonckheere, and was erected in 1943.
Text source: Arts + Architecture Profiles from Art History Research net (AHRnet) https://www.arthistoryresearch.net/
