Lucien De Gheus, Poperinge 1927 – 2013
Belgian sculptor and ceramist ,
who was successful in the post war fifties and sixties
with sculpture, and ceramic objects and bas-reliefs.
From 1944 to 1951 Lucien De Gheus studies at the School of Arts St.-Lucas at Schaarbeek (Brussels),
supplemented with evening classes sculpture.
Thanks to his talents, in 1950 he’s admitted to the “Atelier Libre de Dessin de Woluwé –Saint-Lambert”. There he meets Oscar Jespers and Edgard Tytgat and the contact with Maurits Verbist is the start of a lifelong friendship between the artists. Their influence is undeniable.
He starts his career in his hometown Poperinge.
In 1953 the Province of West Flanders awards him the 2nd prize Sculpture, which marks the start of his fame as an artist. The peak of success is reached at the world exhibition Brussels Expo 58, where he gets the gold medal for ceramics.
The renewal of religious art in the fifties and sixties 
provides the artist with important commissions
e.g. the Madonna for the chapel Heist-op-den-Berg – Zonderschot.
However, it is in his ceramic work,
incorporated in architecture or as object an sich,
that he explores his fantasy : the sculptures, bowls and plaquettes are narrative, curious, roguish, and always quirky De Gheus.
Seven years after his wedding to Suzanne Druant, he moves to the newly built house at Westouterstraat 80 Poperinge. The house is a sample of all the artistic disciplines he excels in : stained glass, paintings, glazed floor tiles, windowsills and faience, furniture and chandeliers.
Since his death in 2013, this heritage is administered by the Private Foundation Lucien De Gheus – Druant, who opened up the house to the public. The Museum shows a collection of ceramics and sculpture De Gheus from 1947 to the beginning of ths century.