About Jean Batenburg & Émile Souply
Jean Batenburg (1906-1990) was a Belgian figurative artist who, alongside his work as a painter, etcher, and watercolorist, also made significant contributions to the field of furniture design. After studying interior architecture at the academies in Brussels and Schaarbeek, he began applying his architectural expertise to create functional, modern furniture pieces. In the 1960s, he and his wife ran a design business in Kortenberg, initially called E.M.Y., which later became MI. Their business focused on producing high-quality, modernist furniture, and Batenburg's designs blended both artistic and architectural principles. Throughout his career, Batenburg's work in furniture design merged artistic sensibility with functionality, contributing to the development of Belgian modernism.
Émile Souply (1933-2013), a Belgian designer, studied at the École des Métiers d'Art in Maredsous from 1945 to 1953, where he learned the techniques and materials of silversmithing. His early works, made from 1955 to 1959, were inspired by ancient and archaic designs, using traditional techniques like wrought iron and open-fire welding. After relocating to Brussels, Souply began creating modernist jewelry using industrial techniques, incorporating silver and semi-precious stones. In the 1970s, his designs became more playful and colorful, and from 1983 to 2006, he utilized technological advancements to make his pieces more accessible to a wider audience.