Victor Demanet

Belgian sculptor Victor Demanet studied at the Academy of Fine Arts at Namur before serving in the Army. In 1921 he moved to Paris, where he worked as an antique dealer. Inspired by the visit to Paris he returned to Belgium, lived in Namur and studied in Bruxelles, where he resumed working in sculpture. In 1926 he finally moved to Bruxelles. Demanet produced mostly large-scale sculpture showing physical work and powerful movement and, from 1926, more than 100 medals for public and private patrons, and exhibited internationally. One of his most famous sculptures is the statue of the Belgian King Leopold II in Namur.

In 1937, Demanet was appointed Knight, and in 1961 Officer, of the Leopold Order and in 1947 Knight of the Legion of Honor. He regularly participated in the Salon des Artistes Français, of which he was a member. Demanet entered three Olympic Games, those of 1924, 1932, and 1936. The Invocation of the Athlete was first exhibited in 1923 in the Salon des Artistes. The dimensions of the bronze sculpture are given as 34 x 185 x 205 cm. Two sculptures were designed just prior to the 1932 Olympics. One 65 cm high and 80 cm long bronze from 1930 is also referred to as Hercules as an archer. Another nearly 60 cm high Archer from 1932 carries an ivory bow in some copies and seems to be more likely his Olympic entry Tir à la perche (Perch shooting). In the same year, Demanet also submitted the medal _ Prix Piccard-Kipfer_. The 75 x 53 mm size bronze plaque, partially silvered, was issued on the occasion of the ascent of Auguste Piccard and Paul Kipfer with a balloon into the stratosphere on 27 May 1931. The back of the plaque bears a respective inscription. The 62 x 50 mm bronze plaque Tireur à la Perche (Perch shooting) dates back to 1935 and shows a fragmentary image of the sculpture Archer from 1932. The plaque Tir à la Carabine (Rifle shooting) in the original 51 x 69 mm format dates from the same year and is also made of bronze, partly silver plated.