Eugeen Yoors

Born as Eugène Joors on 7 November 1879 in Antwerp,^[2] Yoors spent his formative years in Seville, Spain, where his father held the position of liquor factory manager.^[3] He was educated in Spanish and French and undertook studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Seville. He subsequently returned to Antwerp in 1899 to pursue his studies at the National Higher Institute for Fine Arts Antwerp (Nationaal Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten).^[4]

From 1905, he pursued further studies at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in Paris for a number of years. During his time in Paris, he became acquainted with the novelist Joris-Karl Huysmans, Jacques Brasilier, Joséphin Péladan, the founder of a Catholic Rosicrucian movement and Léon Bloy, also follower Péladan teachings.^[3] Additionally, he undertook further travel to England, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. In 1907, he established his permanent residence in Boechout, Antwerp.^[5]

In 1905, he encountered the emerging architect and artist Flor Van Reeth. Both subsequently became founding members of the Boechout art circle, Streven.^[3] At one of the aforementioned exhibitions, Huysmans and Van Reeth encountered the author Felix Timmermans. They held similar perspectives on art, religion, and mysticism and established a lifelong friendship. In 1908, Yoors and Van Reeth co-founded the Belgian branch of the spiritual society of the Rosicrucians, the Rosicrucian brotherhood La Rosace and joined the Antwerp art circle De Scalden.^[6] He designed his first stained-glass window for the Jozef Muls' villa in Kapellen in 1911. In 1913, Yoors and Van Reeth established the art school Le Scarabée d'Or, which focused on the production of objects related to the building and decorative arts.^[2][3]

Following the German invasion of Belgium in 1914, Yoors was forced to remain in the Netherlands as a military refugee. During this period, he created over 500 drawings of soldiers, which he produced in the internment camp of Amersfoort and was later transferred to the internment camp of Zeist.^[7] EIn 1918, he married the artist Magda Peeters (1892–1989). In order to provide for his young family, he subsequently focused his efforts on the production of stained glass windows. In 1924, he altered his original surname, Joors, to Yoors, in order to avoid confusion with an older fellow artist Eugène Joors.^[8]

In 1925, Yoors joined with Flor Van Reeth, Felix Timmermans, Ernest Van der Hallen, Anton Van de Velde, and Gerard Walschap, among others, to establish the core group of the progressive Catholic artists' association De Pelgrim.^[9] This society of artists professed the Christian faith in works of art, literature, and music that were artistically responsible and in accordance with their religious beliefs took a stand for the renewal of Christian art. The manifesto of this movement attracted international attention.