A blog exploring the life, work and networks of the Belgian émigré artist and writer Gerard Ceunis (1884 – 1964), who lived in Hitchin, England.
I first came across Ceunis’ paintings in an exhbition at North Hertfordshire Museum in 2019 and was curious to find out more about him. My interest intensified when I discovered that he had lived just a few hundred yards from our own home in Hitchin. The more I found out about Ceunis, his early life in Belgium and his literary and artistic connections, the more intrigued I became. I was determined to piece together the story of his unusual life, and to make that story – and his work – better known.
New readers should start here.
Martin Robb
St Ippolyts
Hitchin
England.
About me
I studied at Cambridge and Manchester Universities, then spent a number of years working in adult and community education, before joining The Open University as a full-time lecturer. In addition to my academic research, I am also a keen amateur historian. My website exploring the life and work of Theodor Kern, another Hitchin-based émigré artist, can be found here.
The header image is a reproduction of Gerard Ceunis’ painting, ‘St Mary’s Church, Hitchin, Floodlit at Night’, 1930 (© North Hertfordshire Museum).
The Quest for Ceunis 