Caipira picando fumo

Son of a sculptor, the Belgian artist Adrien Henri van Emelen studied at the School of Fine Arts in his city, Leuven. In 1892, Emelen took sculpture classes in France with Auguste Rodin and in 1896, he began teaching drawing in his native country. Because of the impacts of the First World War, he moved to Wales and, in 1920, to Brazil, where he became a naturalized citizen. In the state of São Paulo his sculptural work is present in important places with public access, such as the Coffee Museum, in Santos; and in the São Bento Monastery, in the center of São Paulo. The Pinacoteca has four paintings by the artist.