As animalier (sculptor of animals) Frans Jochems was reputed in Belgium and abroad. With Bugatti, Collin and Dupon Jochems was one of the four greatest animaliers of Antwerp.

Frans Jochems made sculptures of at least 50 different animals. Animals were his favourite subject. In these works he could do as he pleased and express himself without anyone interfering. Fifty years after his death the animal sculptures do not seem old-fashioned at all. They are snapshots remarkable by their expressiveness : the animal’s most appealing attitude or movement within the closed volume of its body. He is not interested in details, only in the main form. Moreover he has a special feeling for the psychological characteristics of each animal..