Constant Montald was a Belgian painter, muralist, sculptor, and teacher.

Montald trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent

Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Ghent)

The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent is one of the oldest art schools in Belgium, now part of the Hogeschool Gent.The Academy was founded in 1741 as a private school in the home of Philippe Karel Marissal, and provided a royal charter in 1771 by empress Maria Theresa of Austria...

, then lived and studied briefly in Paris with fellow artist Henri Privat-Livemont at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts

École des Beaux-Arts

École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...

. In Paris he painted his first monumental canvas, The Human Struggle, meant for the Brussels Palace of Justice

Law Courts of Brussels

The Law Courts of Brussels or Brussels Palace of Justice is the most important Court building in Belgium, and is a notable landmark of Brussels. It was built between 1866 and 1883 in the eclectic style by architect Joseph Poelaert...

, now found in the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent.

Montald won the Belgian Prix de Rome

Prix de Rome (Belgium)

The Belgian Prix de Rome is an award for young artists, created in 1832, following the example of the original French Prix de Rome. The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp organised the prize until 1920, when the national government took over. The first prize is also sometimes called the Grand Prix...

 in 1886, which provided him three years in Italy and Egypt. In 1891 he returned to Belgium, and five years later became instructor at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts

Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts

The Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels is an art school, founded in 1711.The faculty and alumni of ARBA include some of the most famous names in Belgian painting, sculpture, and architecture: James Ensor, Rene Magritte, and Paul Delvaux...

, a post he would hold until 1932. His students there include some of the best-known names of Belgian painters: Rene Magritte

René Magritte

René François Ghislain Magritte[p] was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images...

 and Paul Delvaux

Paul Delvaux

Paul Delvaux was a Belgian painter, associated with Surrealism, famous for his paintings of female nudes.-Biography:...

, along with many others.

Montald's work includes the sgraffito

Sgraffito

Sgraffito is a technique either of wall decor, produced by applying layers of plaster tinted in contrasting colors to a moistened surface, or in ceramics, by applying to an unfired ceramic body two successive layers of contrasting slip, and then in either case scratching so as to produce an...

 painted tympanum of the Dutch Royal Theater in Ghent, for architect Edmond De Vigne, 1897-1899.

Sources

• this page translated from its Dutch equivalent accessed 9/13/2010