Pont J. Van Den Seylbergh - promenade des artistes

This is the sixth named bridge on the 'promenade des artistes'.

J. Van Den Seylbergh is a painter and pastellist born in Antwerp on March 6, 1884, died in Knokke on August 11, 1960.
After the war he returned to Belgium and settled first in Westerlo and from 1921 in Aarschot, where he restored the Adoration of the Kings by Gasapard De Crayer , which was damaged in the fire in the Church of Our Lady in August 1914. From 1924 to 1940 his artistic production was considerable, as was the number of exhibitions in which he participated. It was during this period that he befriended several artists, including James Ensor and Firmin Baes.
When the Second World War broke out, Van den Seylberg fled to the south of France, and in the summer of 1940 he exhibited in the Ardèche, in Annonay. Back in Belgium in 1941, he settled in Kessel-Lo and then, in 1943, in Spa where he was officially domiciled from 1948. He exhibited there several times (in the Auberge de La Vieille France, in the Casino and with the architect Armand Micha). In 1950 he left Spa for Knokke where a friend rented him a newly built villa ("La Garoupe"). He died there on August 11, 1960.

The 'promende des artistes' is a beautiful walk that runs along the 'Ruisseau de la Picherotte' , a valley with fast-flowing water that has inspired several artists. Since 2014, 7 bridges over the water have been given the name of local artists.

Willem Vandenameele