THE JUBELPARK MUSEUM in Brussels | Department of European Decorative Arts | Collection of Liège Furniture | Liège Furniture

 European decorative arts department

The Liège style FURNITURE Collection 

of the Cinquantenaire Museum in Brussels

In the month of October 2024, 12 new rooms opened at the Cinquantenaire Museum located in Brussels (Belgium), rooms that were thoroughly renovated after years of closure. For those unfamiliar with the Cinquantenaire Museum ( Also called Jubelpark Museum) and it is also called the Museum of Art & History, located right next to Autoworld Museum and the War Museum. 

The immense Museum has an extensive and impressive collection of Liège & Aachen furniture in its collection. This collection is a huge source of inspiration for many. 

My first visit must have been about 50 years ago, I can still hear my father saying, Museums with the name ‘Royal’ in front of them are always free. Since then, I have been back many times.  The artworks on display are only a small part of the collection, most of it just sitting in storage.

Especially for you, I dived into my private photo collection and searched for some footage, photos I took over the years, to show the how this collection/set-up looked before the rearrangement. 

THE JUBELPARK MUSEUM | Department of European Decorative Arts
| Liège Furniture Collection | Liège Furniture

I have delved into my private photo collection especially for you and searched for some footage, photos I took over the years, to show the how this collection / arrangement looked before the rearrangement. 

According to the Brussels Museum, content choices were made of the artworks in the 18th-century galleries. Some artworks were rearranged others removed or even taken out of the reserves.

But I know from experience that Museums are showing less and less and letting more and more artworks end up in storage rooms/reserves. 

I refer to the Design Museum in Ghent (Also in Belgium), where all the beautiful 17&18th-century furniture ended up in storage and these rooms are now full of contemporary design. 

Apparently, 17&18th-century design is no longer hip enough.

So I will urgently have to travel to Brussels to go and see what the line-up is like now, and hope for an abundance of Liège furniture.

So in this blog topic, only a few photo from before the renovation.

Happy viewing.

https://www.patrickdamiaens.info

Casting workshop of the Royal Museums of Art & History in Brussels | Art & History Museum Brussels | Plaster Casts | KMKG in Brussels

Casting workshop of the Royal Museums of Art & History in Brussels
 | Art & History Museum Brussels 

Plaster sculptures, casts and bas-reliefs

Casting workshop of the Royal Museums of Art & History in Brussels  

KMKG in Brussels

15 October 2023, it had been eight years since my last visit to the Royal Museum of Art and History's castings workshop in Brussels ( Now "Art & History Museum") , a well-established museum founded in the 19th century and this during the reign of King Leopold II. My very first visit to the workshop was in 1990, which I remember very well and have continued to return at regular intervals.

The Royal Museums of Art and History's casting workshop manages and commercially exploits a collection of some 5,000 casts of works of art dating from prehistory to the 18th century. Due to high demand, waiting times of up to two years are natural.

Specialised craftsmen and volunteers make each cast using ancient techniques, and that both in casting the casts and in patination. Take a look at that production process and the unique collection in the museum's catacombs. 

By offering casts for sale, the studio also helps promote art. A selection of small specimens is in stock. Larger ones, such as busts, full-length statues and reliefs, can be ordered. Why not be charmed? I myself bought a print of the eye of Michelangelo's David that day. Price 54 euros. Plaster models are extremely important for the woodcarver, serving as examples or inspiration for carving ornaments in wood.

https://www.patrickdamiaens.info