Jos de Decker (1912-2000) - The piper

The piper, bronze sculpture by Jos de Decker (1912-2000), signed and numbered 2/7; foundry stamp De Groeve Nevele lost wax.
Jos de Decker was born in Dendermonde in 1912 and took violin lessons, inspired by his family background. For a while he played the violin in orchestras accompanying silent films. With the rise of the sound film, he turns to sculpture and takes courses at the Academy De Termonde with Alferd Courtens. He then studied at the Brussels Academy with Jacques Martin, Victor Rousseau and Egide Rombeaux where he worked in his studio from 1934 to 1940. He obtained the Buls Prize in 1934, then the Triennial Prize of sculpture which made him travel 3 months in Italy. He became a professor at the Academy of Dendermonde between 1947 and 1978 and became director in 1970.
He received numerous state commissions, notably for war memorials (such as the War Memorial in Grembergen or Pro Patria in the cemetery of Anderlecht).