Jules De Bruycker
Belgium, 1870-1945 Ruelle, Gand [Alley, Ghent], 1906
Etching and aquatint
Spencer Museum of Art
De Bruycker spent much of his career documenting the lives of fellow working class citizens of Ghent, Belgium. Ghent was a significant center of socialist activity around 1900. Although there is no indication that he ever openly participated in any political cause, his drawings and etchings betray a keen awareness of class inequities. In this print we see a poor quarter of Ghent (the “Patershol” district) with its open sewer, while in the background the medieval castle of the Counts of Flanders looms in stark contrast.
