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• Comment: You should include some kind of identifer for your references (especially for the non-English ones), such as a URL, ISBN, ISSN, or DOI. Also, you might appreciate Template:Infobox person.
  EatingCarBatteries _{(contribs | talk)} 06:19, 30 May 2026 (UTC)

• Comment: What is intended/meant by "(table underneath references and details)"? Please either explain in Draft talk:Suzanne Fabry, or alter. Hoary (talk) 06:58, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

Suzanne Fabry (1904- 1985) was a 20th century, Brussels based artist, active across several creative disciplines. She practiced the fine arts of painting and drawing, and also worked in the applied arts as a costume designer and head of the department for the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie.

Suzanne Fabry was born on 10 June 1904 in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre.^[1] She was the daughter of Virginie Duchênes (1865-1952) and the symbolist monumental painter Emile Fabry (1865-1966). Virginie Duchênes remains scarcely documented in historical sources. She married Emile Fabry on 25 January 1897 in Ixelles. One of the witnesses at their wedding was the symbolist painter Albert Ciamberlani (1864-1956), illustrating the close artistic networks surrounding the Duchênes-Fabry family, a recurring characteristic throughout the family’s history.^[3]

The Fabry family belonged to the Belgian bourgeoisie and included several ancestors that were mayors in Liège and Verviers. The family lineage can be traced back to the 17th century, to Jean Ortmans(?), mayor of Aix-la-Chapelle, who was married to Sophie Corsen(?). During the 18th century, branches of the family settled in Verviers, where Emile Fabry later grew up.^[4]

Suzanne Fabry’s paternal grandparents were Catherine Amélie Ortmans (1846-1904) and Henri Alexandre Fabry (1838-?), who married in 1865. Henri Alexandre Fabry worked in the wool industry. The couple had thee children: Emérance Fabry, Joséphine Fabry, and Emile Fabry.^[4]

Suzanne Fabry had one older brother, Barthélémy Fabry (1898-1952), born on 13 June 1898. He worked as an librarian at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and married Claudie Perachio (?) in 1934.^[4][5]

Suzanne Fabry grew up in a strongly artistic environment. Her father, Emile Fabry, was a professor at Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, which allowed her to become acquainted from an early age with many artists and colleagues within his network in a more informal family setting. Among these figures were Jean Delville (1867-1953), Constant Montald (1862-1944), and Albert Ciamberlani (1864-1956), some of whom would later also become her teachers.^[6]As a child, Suzanne Fabry also played an important role in the artistic practice of her father by modelling for several of his work. Emile Fabry used members of his family as models, often working from photographic studies.^[7] A large number of these photographs are today preserved in the collection of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.^[8]

Suzanne Fabry spent almost her entire life in the family’s atelier house, located at Rue du Collège Saint-Michel 6 in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre.^[9]During her childhood and youth, she lived there with her parents and her brother, Barthélémy Fabry. After her brother moved out, Suzanne Fabry continued to reside in the house. Following her marriage to Delescluze, he also moved into the residence, where the couple lived together with Emile Fabry until his death. Suzanne Fabry and Delescluze continued to live in the house until the end of their lives.^[5]

The house was commissioned by Emile Fabry and built in 1902 by the architect Emile Lambot. Designed in an eclectic style with elements characteristic of Art Nouveau architecture, the two-storey residence functioned both as a family home and as an artistic workspace.^[9]

The façade features a horizontal band of grey stone running along its lower section, while the remainder of the façade is constructed in red brick. Red accents were used for the window frames, doors and eaves. The front door is decorated with terracotta figurative reliefs by the sculptor Pierre Braecke, positioned on both sides of the entrance and above the doorway.^[9]

The atelier used by Suzanne Fabry, Emile Fabry, and Edmond Delescluze, was situated on the upper floor beneath a large glass roof and expansive windows that provided natural light. Beneath the windows, a small door allowed large canvases to be brought into the studio space.^[10]

The house was officially protected as heritage in 1997. In 2017, the family who inherited the Fabry-Delescluze family home and its contents sold the property, together much of the original furniture and artworks are sold into different collections. Prior to the sale, photographs documenting the interior were taken and an inventory was compiled of the artworks and objects preserved within the house.^[9]

Suzanne Fabry studied at L’Académie des Beaux- Arts in Brussels, from academic year 1923-1924 till 1927-1928. Her registration number at the academy was 19940. During her studies, she attended courses taught by several professors, including, Emile Fabry, Isidore De Rudder (1855-1943), Jean Delville and Constant Montald. After completing her artistic training, she also obtained diplomas qualifying her to teach in art education.^[2]

Throughout Suzanne Fabry’s life, Emile Fabry played a significant role, particularly in her formative years. His influence can be possibly observed in her decision to pursue a career in the fine arts, as well as in her obtaining diplomas that allowed her to teach in art education, may in part reflect a desire of a continuation of her father’s professional path. Some elements in Suzanne Fabry’s early works are influenced by Emile Fabry’s stylistic and thematic approaches.^[2]

At the same time, Suzanne Fabry occupied an important place in her father’s later life. After the passing away of her mother and during Emile Fabry’s retirement, several indications suggest that she provided him with both practical and emotional support.^[11] Suzanne Fabry and Edmond Delescluze continued to live with Emile Fabry until his death, and Suzanne Fabry assisted him in everyday matters, including cooking and caring for him.^[12][13] Correspondence from Emile Fabry’s later years also reveals the extent to which he had become increasingly detached from many of his earlier artistic and social networks. These letters further indicate that Suzanne Fabry played an emotional support figure during the difficulties and isolation he experienced at older age.^[14]

Following Emile Fabry’s death, Suzanne Fabry became actively involved in preserving and promoting his artistic legacy. She undertook conservation efforts on some of his paintings, including the application of varnish layers.^[2]She also worked to maintain public recognition of his oeuvre. Her commitment to preserving the visibility of his work is reflected, among other things, in her involvement in the sale of his artworks to (public) collections. For example, she was involved in facilitating the acquisition of a work by Emile Fabry by the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Belgium.^[15]

Suzanne Fabry married the painter and decorative artist Edmond Delescluze (1905-1993) in 1945.^[1] They had met during their studies at Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.^[2]

Edmond Delescluze was born in Oudergem in 1905. He was the son of Elisa Droussard, who worked as a seamstress. His biological father was Eugène Demunter, but after his mother’s divorce, she married Jean Delescluze (1871-1947). Delescluze studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts from the academic year 1923-1924 onward, where he attended many of the same classes as Suzanne Fabry. In 1928, he continued his education under Gustave Van de Woestijne at Institut Supérieur des Arts Décoratifs (La Cambre).^[2]

Like Fabry, Edmond Delescluze was active as a painter and worked primarily within figurative tradition. In contrast to Fabry, however, his work was more directly influenced by avant-garde movements and art deco aesthetics, while his later work also incorporated surrealist influences.^[2]

Delescluze’s father, Jean Delescluze, was the head of the decorative department at la Monnaie. Edmond Delescluze began assisting him there in 1934 and succeeded him as head of the department in 1948 till 1959.^[2]

The lives and careers of Fabry and Delescluze developed in remarkably parallel ways. Both emerged from artistic family environments, Fabry from a background rooted in the fine arts and Delescluze from an applied arts background. Both practiced painting and drawing while maintaining distinct stylistic approaches, although figurative representation remained central in each of their works. Their professional trajectories also closely intersected at La Monnaie, where they both worked.^[2]

The relationship between Fabry and Delescluze can be understood as one of strong artistic and professional mutual support, in which both artists found inspiration in each other’s works and careers.

After completing her education, Suzanne Fabry began her career as a painter. Her drawings and paintings from this early period almost always feature human figures as their central subject. Her oeuvre ranged from nude studies and portraits to mythological and allegorical scenes. Self-portraits formed a particularly important element within her artistic production during these years.^[16]

In these early works, aspects of her visual language reveal the influence of symbolism and, more specifically, of the work of her father, Emile Fabry. The backgrounds of many of her portraits and self-portraits are non-figurative composed of one or several tonal fields that emphasize the human figures as the principal focus of the compositions. In her more narrative works, such as mythological scenes, the backgrounds tend to be somewhat more figurative, often suggesting elements of landscape, although the emphasis consistently remains on the represented figures.

Fabry’s works demonstrate a strong interest in the psychological and emotional expression of her subjects. She particularly focused on conveying personality, facial expression, and emotion, especially trough the eyes and the mouth of the portrayed figures.^[2]

From 1948 until the end of the 1959 opera season, Suzanne Fabry worked La Monnaie in Brussels as a costume designer and head of the costume department.^[17]

Throughout this period, Fabry primarily focused on her work for the opera. Her costume designs are designed with a big amount of attention and a strong artistic sensibility. She frequently sketched costumes from multiple angles and carefully considered details such as hairstyles, accessories, and the positioning of the hands. Her background as a fine arts practitioner and portraitist is reflected in her designs: she paid close attention to the choice of paper and colour, Fabry included emotional expression within the figures, and the singers and dancers can be identified in the sketches.^[2]

Fabry closely observed the performers for whom she designed and developed strong working relationships with many of them. Good communication and the building of a strong bound between Fabry, as designer, and the performers, whom she designed for, is an essential aspect in her practice.^[2] These professional and personal relationships also influenced her work as a fine artist. She produced numerous portraits of the singers and dancers with whom she collaborated.^[6]

This close interaction between her work for the opera and her independent artistic practice demonstrates that these two aspects of her professional life are not fully separate parts, but that they were interconnected. Her background in fine arts strengthened her work qualities as a designer, while the friendships she developed at La Monnaie also resulted in portrait commissions from the performers associated with the opera house.

In 2011, the Fonds Léon Courtin-Marcelle-Bouché acquired an archival collection containing 922 design drawings produced by Fabry and Delescluze for La Monnaie, along with maquettes, posters and stage plans. The collection is preserved within the archives of La Monnaie in Brussels.^[17]

After leaving La Monnaie in 1959, Fabry returned to drawing and painting on a full-time basis. In comparison with her earlier oeuvre, her later work demonstrates both continuities, and changes and developments. The human figure remained central throughout her artistic production, although she focused predominantly on portraiture rather than on self-portraits.

Her painting style appears to have evolved considerably during this later period. The influence of symbolism and her father's artistic language became far less direct than in her early career.^[2]

In her portraits, the careful attention to facial features, expressions, and the personality of the portrayed subject became even more pronounced an detailed than in her earlier period. The backgrounds of her works remained largely non-figurative. This compositional choice reinforces the prominence of the portrayed and direct the viewer’s attention toward the psychological and emotional presence of the figures.^[2]

Throughout her career, Suzanne Fabry participated in numerous artistic competitions and received several distinctions for her work in the fine arts.

In 1927-1928, Fabry shared the Prix Célestin Jacquet, a competition dedicated to watercolour.^[2]

At the Brussels International Exhibition, she was awarded the Gold Palms of the Order of the Crown.^[2]

In 1939, Fabry received a prize of 3 500 francs at the Prix de la Classe des Beaux-Arts de l’Académie Royale for a design for a decorative frieze intended for a lyrical theatre. The competition formed part of the annual gathering of the Classe des Beaux-Arts, held at the Palais des Académies in Brussels.^[18]

In 1945, she won 4 200 francs in the competition Les Prix de l’Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts for her response to the first question of the competition.^[19] Founded in 1769, this long-standing competition awarded prizes twice a year, each edition centred around specific questions or themes which participants were required to respond.^[20]  

Fabry won twice the Prix Du Rembrandt Buggati, which is a price for portraits. One of these awards was granted in 1953 for her portrait of the opera singer Giuli Bardi (1922-1998), the stage name of Sylvia Stahlman.^{[21] [22]}

In 1975 Fabry received the prize of the Œuvre Nationale Des Beaux- Arts.^[23]

Exhibiting artworks was crucial for 20th- century artists to gain visibility and to facilitate sales. The exhibition history of Fabry’s work can be broadly divided into several phases. From approximately 1930 to 1950, she exhibited mainly in salons with a relatively official and academic character. This was followed by a period of limited participation between 1948 and 1959, when she was employed at La Monnaie and focused primarily on costume design, which involved a substantial workload that was time consuming.^[2]From 1959 until the 1980s, Fabry participated in a wider range of exhibitions, including more diverse and ‘alternative’ venues. These included group exhibitions dedicated to women artists as well as solo exhibitions (sometimes in combination with works by Edmond Delescluze and Emile Fabry) in gallery settings. Posthumously, during the 1990s till 2000, a number of exhibitions presented her work alongside that of Delescluze. In the following decades (2000 till ca. 2020), her works appear to have received limited public exposure and are largely held in private collections. In the present, there are hopeful indications of renewed institutional interest in Fabry’s work, as evidenced by an acquisition by Femmes Artistes du Musée de Mougins.^[24] (Patterns and phases conclusions were drawn by analysing all available information about Suzanne Fabry’s exhibition participations, see for more information table underneath.)

Suzanne Fabry began exhibiting her work in the 1930s, primarily in salons associated with an official academic art character, which retained certain features of the 19th- century salon exhibition model.^[25] She participated in the Salon Triennale in 1930 and 1933, and in the Salon Quadrennial in 1931, 1939 and 1948. During the 1930s and 1940s, she also exhibited regularly at the Salon de Printemps in Brussels. This annual spring exhibition was organized by Société Royale des Beaux- Arts and held at the Palais des Beaux- Arts, designed by Victor Horta (1861- 1947), which opened in 1928.^[26] Next to that she exhibited at the Brussels International Exposition of 1935. (table underneath references and details)

In addition, Fabry exhibited during this period in Paris, including a participation in the Salon de Printemps of 1934. In 1937, she took part in the exhibition Les Femmes Artistes d'Europe exposent au Jeu de Paume, which brought together 555 works by women artist from 15 countries. (table underneath references and details)