Égide Rombaux [also known as Égide Rombeaux] was born in Schaerbeek, Brussels, Belgium on 19 January 1865 and was the son of the sculptor Félix Rombaux (1838-?). From 1879 he studied at the Académie royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels where was taught by Charles Van der Stappen (1843-1910). From 1883 to 1886, he worked on several projects in Holland, Germany and in France. He was then employed as an assistant to the sculptors Guillaume de Groot (1839–1922), Albert Desenfans (1845-1938), and Jef Lambeaux. (1852-1908) In 1887 he was awarded the Godecharle prize for sculpture with his sculpture 'Mercure' and with the benefit of the award went to Italy. In 1891 he received the Grand prix de Rome, enabling go back to Italy. In 1895 he returned to Belgium and trained in marble with the sculptors Léonce Évrard and for Godefroid Devreese (1861-1941).
In 1905 Rombaux was one of the co-founders of the Antwerp art group Art Contemporain but seldom exhibited with them. In 1911 he was elected a member of the Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique. In 1921 he was appointed a peofessor at the Institut des Beaux-Arts in Antwerp, a position he held until 1938. From 1921 to 1935 he was also a professor at the Académie in Brussels. He was appointed a member of the Commission for Monuments and Sites of Brabant in 1926, and a member of the Commission for Ancient Art for the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique.
Notable amongst Rombaux's work from post-World War One years were a marble bust of Madame Léonce Evrard (1920); the Monument of the Vendéens war memorial in Tournai (1925); a marble bust of Paul Janson (1928); a marble statue of Ernest Solvay in Anderlecht (1932); a marble bust of Mme. Serruys (1935); a marble bust of King Leopold III for the Sénat Belge in Brussels (1939); and a monument in bronze to Cardinal Mercier in Brussels (1941).
Rombaux's address was given as 137 Avenue de Longchamps, Uccle, Brussels from 1914 to 1931. He died in Brussels on 11 September 1942.
Text source: Arts + Architecture Profiles from Art History Research net (AHRnet) https://www.arthistoryresearch.net/
