Printed: 2025-12-08
Eyckermans, Albert
Identity
Category
Person (Male)
Alternative name or descriptor
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Status
- Professional
Details
Life dates
Boom, 1832 - Tomatave [Madagascar], 1889
Activity
1861 - 1867 / Saint-Pierre [La Réunion]
Albert Jean Leopold, ° 15.6.1832; + 22.1.1889. He deserted from the army on 26.7.1854 and fled Belgium. Arrived in La Réunion In 1855 where he was initially a shopkeeper.
1862 - 1867 / Saint-Denis [La Réunion], Rue du Conseil, 45 then 83
Photographer, for a period as an assistant or in partnership with Charles Saunier until the latter left for Mauritius in 1865. Advertising here as Saunier's successor by September 1865, claiming to have succeeded him on 1.7.1865 (Moniteur de l'Île Bourbon, 23.9.1865). Early CVs bear the initials A.J.L., later examples J.L. Eyckermans received an amnesty for his desertion and left for Europe in early 1867.
1869 * - 1874 ca Grammont
Registered on 10.5.1869 where he styled himself painter-photographer on CVs. Eyckermans probably returned to La Réunion without informing the population registry in the second half of 1874 or in 1875.
1871 */ Bruxelles, Rue de la Vierge Noire, 24 (private)
Arrived at this address on 21.1.1871. Resided in Brussels for eight months, latterly in Rue du Cirque, 39, from 29.7.1871. CV in Brussels with no street address dated 26.6.1874 and another one simply dated 1874.
1873 Renaix, Hôtel de l'Aigle Noir
Itinerant, declaring a stay of two weeks only in July and again in November. His advertisements did not spare the rhetoric. "Mr Paul [sic] Eyckermans, after twenty years of perilous and arduous travel in faraway lands, has brought back a collection, unique in the world, of all the types of the various races inhabiting the islands and continents bathed by the Indian ocean. A large quantity of photographic views, taken by himself and featuring the most varied sites, monuments and vegetation, which he will cede to aficionados at advantageous prices (La Renaisienne, 20.7.1873 & 2.11.1873). The portrait side of his activity was not neglected: "Mr Eyckermans showed us examples of portraits of some of our friends in this town, examples which, as for lighting and accurate likeness, do honour to the artist" (La Renaisienne, 27.7.1873).
1875 - 1886 ca Saint-Denis [La Réunion]
Painter-photographer. Sometimes transcribed "Eykermans". Recorded as a photographer domiciled in Saint Denis [La Réunion] at the occasion of his daughter's birth there on 27.4.1875. CV dated 14.11.1875. Still operating in Saint-Denis, when he photographed the Great Comet of 1882 (L'Astronomie: revue d'astronomie populaire, 1.1.1883).
1878 ca Saint-Paul [La Réunion]
Branch studio.
1884 Saint-Pierre [La Réunion]
In March 1884 it was reported that Eyckermans and François Cudenet had taken photographs of the port of Saint-Pierre (Le Port de Saint-Pierre, 13.3.1884). Advertised that he was extending his stay in Saint-Pierre and had moved his studio to his home address at the corner of the Rue des Bons-Enfants and the Rue de la Banlieue on 1.5.1884 (Le Courier de Saint-Pierre, 21.5.1884). It is not confirmed that Eyckermans was operating in Madagascar at the time of his death there.
Albert Jean Leopold, ° 15.6.1832; + 22.1.1889. He deserted from the army on 26.7.1854 and fled Belgium. Arrived in La Réunion In 1855 where he was initially a shopkeeper.
1862 - 1867 / Saint-Denis [La Réunion], Rue du Conseil, 45 then 83
Photographer, for a period as an assistant or in partnership with Charles Saunier until the latter left for Mauritius in 1865. Advertising here as Saunier's successor by September 1865, claiming to have succeeded him on 1.7.1865 (Moniteur de l'Île Bourbon, 23.9.1865). Early CVs bear the initials A.J.L., later examples J.L. Eyckermans received an amnesty for his desertion and left for Europe in early 1867.
1869 * - 1874 ca Grammont
Registered on 10.5.1869 where he styled himself painter-photographer on CVs. Eyckermans probably returned to La Réunion without informing the population registry in the second half of 1874 or in 1875.
1871 */ Bruxelles, Rue de la Vierge Noire, 24 (private)
Arrived at this address on 21.1.1871. Resided in Brussels for eight months, latterly in Rue du Cirque, 39, from 29.7.1871. CV in Brussels with no street address dated 26.6.1874 and another one simply dated 1874.
1873 Renaix, Hôtel de l'Aigle Noir
Itinerant, declaring a stay of two weeks only in July and again in November. His advertisements did not spare the rhetoric. "Mr Paul [sic] Eyckermans, after twenty years of perilous and arduous travel in faraway lands, has brought back a collection, unique in the world, of all the types of the various races inhabiting the islands and continents bathed by the Indian ocean. A large quantity of photographic views, taken by himself and featuring the most varied sites, monuments and vegetation, which he will cede to aficionados at advantageous prices (La Renaisienne, 20.7.1873 & 2.11.1873). The portrait side of his activity was not neglected: "Mr Eyckermans showed us examples of portraits of some of our friends in this town, examples which, as for lighting and accurate likeness, do honour to the artist" (La Renaisienne, 27.7.1873).
1875 - 1886 ca Saint-Denis [La Réunion]
Painter-photographer. Sometimes transcribed "Eykermans". Recorded as a photographer domiciled in Saint Denis [La Réunion] at the occasion of his daughter's birth there on 27.4.1875. CV dated 14.11.1875. Still operating in Saint-Denis, when he photographed the Great Comet of 1882 (L'Astronomie: revue d'astronomie populaire, 1.1.1883).
1878 ca Saint-Paul [La Réunion]
Branch studio.
1884 Saint-Pierre [La Réunion]
In March 1884 it was reported that Eyckermans and François Cudenet had taken photographs of the port of Saint-Pierre (Le Port de Saint-Pierre, 13.3.1884). Advertised that he was extending his stay in Saint-Pierre and had moved his studio to his home address at the corner of the Rue des Bons-Enfants and the Rue de la Banlieue on 1.5.1884 (Le Courier de Saint-Pierre, 21.5.1884). It is not confirmed that Eyckermans was operating in Madagascar at the time of his death there.
Locations
1861 - 1867 / Saint-Pierre [La Réunion]
1862 - 1867 / Saint-Denis [La Réunion], Rue du Conseil, 45 then 83
1869 * - 1874 ca Grammont
1871 */ Bruxelles, Rue de la Vierge Noire, 24 (private)
1873 Renaix, Hôtel de l'Aigle Noir
1875 - 1886 ca Saint-Denis [La Réunion]
1878 ca Saint-Paul [La Réunion]
1884 Saint-Pierre [La Réunion]
1862 - 1867 / Saint-Denis [La Réunion], Rue du Conseil, 45 then 83
1869 * - 1874 ca Grammont
1871 */ Bruxelles, Rue de la Vierge Noire, 24 (private)
1873 Renaix, Hôtel de l'Aigle Noir
1875 - 1886 ca Saint-Denis [La Réunion]
1878 ca Saint-Paul [La Réunion]
1884 Saint-Pierre [La Réunion]
Exhibitions
La Réunion, 1864 (bronze medal); La Réunion, 1881 (bronze medal).
Genres / subject matter
Techniques
Bibliography/Webography
EYCKERMAN, Peter. "A.J.L. Eyckermans (1832-1889) van deserteur tot gerespecteerd fotograaf", Gerardimontium, no. 258, November-December 2014, pp. 27-35; accessed on 4.2.2023 at: https://www.gerardimontium.be/wp-content/uploads/tijdschrift/1417.pdf
Context
Affiliations
Management
Record source
DIRECTORY_1997#1613
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation/revision
SFJ revised 9.2.2017, 10.1.2019 & 4.2.2023 based on research by Peter Eyckerman; SFJ revised 14.6.2018, based on information supplied by François Boisjoly; SFJ revised 4.2.2023 & 21.6.2025 based on information supplied by M. Demaeght; MD revised 11.6.2025, 9.7.2025 & 5.8.2025