In an earlier post on this site I wrote about Gerard Ceunis’ family origins in Belgium, drawing on information supplied to me by Elsie De Cuyper, the artist’s great niece. Elise has also sent me some photographs of her grandfather, Florimond Ceunis, who was Gerard’s brother, and has kindly given me permission to share them on this blog.
As I’ve noted before, Gerard Jules Ceunis was born on 8th December 1884 in Ghent, the youngest of the six children of newspaper typesetter and compositor Prosper Ceunis (1840 – 1897) and his wife Coleta, née Nicaes (1847 – 1931). Gerard’s older brothers and sisters were: Maria (1866 – 1871); Oscar (b. 1871); Charles (1877 – 1925); Florimond (1878 – 1962); and Marie (1878 – 1956).
Florimond and Mathilde Ceunis on their wedding day in 1915
Florimond and Mathilde Ceunis in their garden in 1953
Another photograph of Florimond and Mathilde in their garden
Florimond Ceunis married Mathilde De Vogelaere in 1915. According to Elsie De Cuyper, her grandparents kept a shop in Ghent which sold hosiery and related items, perhaps providing a clue as to why Gerard chose women’s clothing as the focus of his business after his move to England.
Florimond and Mathilde Ceunis’ daughter Bertha, born in 1922, was their only child. She married Roger De Cuyper, an artist who had studied art at the Atheneum in Ostend. Roger and Bertha’s daughter Elsie was born in 1946 and their son Frank Roger Florimond De Cuyper in 1957. As I’ve noted before, Frank is a widely published author of science fiction, under the name of Frank Roger.
Elsie De Cuyper has shared with me some examples of her father, Roger De Cuyper’s work, including the linocut of a snowbound village which Elise sent me on a card last year. She also sent me the photograph, reproduced above, of her father at an exhibition of his paintings.
Elsie is something of an artist herself. Some of her pieces, including the image of a sunset over water, reproduced above, put me in mind of her great uncle Gerard Ceunis’ paintings, and I particularly like the muted colours of the snowy landscape in the picture reproduced on the Christmas card which I received from Elise just the other day:
Clearly, artistic and literary talent have been passed down through the generations in the Ceunis family.
The Quest for Ceunis 