This 19th-century village house with a hedged front garden was built for and by Albijn ('Binus') Van den Abeele, mayor, municipal secretary, writer and painter.
He stayed there from 1881 to 1918. His studio was on the first floor where the window opened onto the church of Latem and the former distillery. 'Binus' Van den Abeele had a nose for establishing good contacts in the artistic environment. His house became an important meeting point for 'Latemse' painters, sculptors, writers, poets in the years between 1884 and 1914 (Xavier and César De Cock, Emile Claus, Valerius de Saedeleer, George Minne, Karel and Gustave van de Woestijne).
Albijn Van den Abeele (1835-1918) was born in Latemnaar and the son of a farmer. At first he combines an official career with modest activity as a man of letters. His works mainly complain about the social abuses and are even slightly uplifting. Van den Abeele was also a creditable amateur historian. His attention was mainly focused on the history of Sint-Martens-Latem and Deinze. Albijn also played an important role in local politics. After having been a municipal councilor and alderman, he was mayor of Sint-Martens-Latem between 1869 and 1876.
After his unexpected farewell, he becomes the municipal secretary of Latem and Afsnee. In those years he also devoted himself to his new passion: painting. His work testifies to an unconditional surrender to the subject, nature in the immediate vicinity. Albijn has weathered nature quite truthfully. It seems like you can walk through the landscapes. Van den Abeele's oeuvre gradually undergoes an evolution. At first black and brown predominated in his paintings. Later, Binus uses a much more extensive and lighter color palette.
Fellow artists felt that Albijn was underestimated as an artist. With his work and through his selfless efforts for the painters of Sint-Martens-Latem, Albijn Van den Abeele is at the basis of the Latem artist groups. In the years around 1900 he grows into the host of his native soil. Albijn Van den Abeele just experienced the end of the First World War. He died in this house on November 16, 1918. The artist was interred in the cemetery of Sint-Martens-Latem, near the sacristy.
This house is in private hands. Please respect the property and privacy of residents.