Olivier Strebelle was born in Brussels in 1927. The son of renowned painter Rodolphe Strebelle, he studied ceramics and sculpture at the l’École nationale supérieure d’architecture et des arts décoratifs de La Cambre in the Belgian capital. In the city, he rubbed shoulders with central figures of the Belgian avant-garde, founding ‘les Ateliers du Marais’ alongside Alechinsky, Reinhoud, Dotremont and Olyff. The workshop would become an important expressive hub for the Cobra movement.
As early as 1953, Strebelle embarked on an impressive teaching career that took him around the world: he taught at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver (1961), the University of Iowa (1968), the University of Colorado Boulder (1977), the University of Atlanta and the University of Philadelphia. From 1984 to 1987, he acted as chair of Lamar Dodd at the University of Georgia. Finally, in 1987, he was elected as a member at the Belgian Academy of Fine Arts.
While still in Belgium, in 1956, he was awarded the prestigious ‘Prix de Rome’ for sculpture and abandoned ceramics in favour of the former. Strebelle’s sculpture was one of personal indulgence and thematic consistency. This indulgence became risky, mainly in the sculptor’s preferred monumental scale. Strebelle’s sculptures were big, forcing much of his art to exist outside, in nature, surrounded by potential spectators. Its bridge-like function between humanity and nature is conscious and purposeful, with the sculptor using nature as inspiration — specifically nature’s soft materials, such as earth or snow — hence the organic rounded lines that have become synonymous with Strebelle’s giant pieces. For the artist, nature was a spectacle he highlighted through artistic creation.
This spectacle has been celebrated by Strebelle around the world. In Washington with Le Rire rentré (1973); in Singapore with Between Sea and Sky (1985); in Saint Louis with Protecting Eagle VI (1985); in Leuna with Sur un grand pied (1998); in Moscow with Enlèvement d’Europe (2002); and in Beijing with l’Allée des athlètes (2008). This international reputation saw him nicknamed the Belgian Picasso in 2001 at an open-air exhibition of his sculptures in Paris. In his native Brussels, many artworks have become city landmarks, such as Confluence (1992), Phénix 44 (1994) and Flight in Mind (1995). This latter sculpture was damaged during the 2016 terrorist attack of the Zaventem airport. Rather than restore the work, it was moved, along with its scars, and displayed in commemoration of the victims.
Strebelle passed away in 2017. In 2021, an application to preserve Strebelle’s house (built in 1955) and workshop (added in 1958) as a cultural heritage site was submitted to the Uccle commune in Brussels.
