Cécile Cauterman (born Cécile Boonans; 22 March 1882 – 11 March 1957) was a Belgian painter and draughtswoman from Ghent,
best known for expressive portraits and studies of ordinary and marginalized people.
Life and training
She was born in Ghent and studied under Jean Delvin at the city’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts. She spent most of her life and career in Ghent, where she remained active as an artist into the 1950s.
Artistic work
Cauterman worked chiefly in charcoal, pencil, and pastel; from 1934 she often added oil paint to her drawings, and she later took up watercolour. Her subjects frequently included working-class people, the elderly, and the disadvantaged, rendered with a direct, humanizing focus rather than idealisation.
She exhibited in Belgium during the early 20th century, including the 1913 Ghent Universal and International Exposition and the 1914 Brussels Salon Triennale.
Legacy
Her work is held by the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent and the Museum voor Oudheidkunde en Sierkunst en Schone Kunsten in Kortrijk (Courtray).
Cauterman died in Ghent in 1957, shortly before her 75th birthday.