I am only in Belgium for two days so am just seeing two galleries. I have visited Brussels a number of times and have visited most of the main galleries there. I have never been to Lieges and came here mainly to see La Boverie.
La Boverie, Liege
La Boverie is a fine arts gallery in La Boverie Park. In is the site of the 1905 World Expo, and has a lovely location on a small island on the Meuse river. It is not a huge gallery, but it does have some quality pieces. It was only 5 Euros to enter. As with lots of lesser known galleries, it was pretty quiet so I had some of the rooms almost to myself. Which I love!
People always head for the big hitter galleries, but I find the regional galleries often have some equally amazing artworks, it’s easier and cheaper to see them and much quieter too, win, win, win.
Belgian impressionism and neo impressionism
The gallery has range of artworks, but by far the most impressive is the impressionist and neo impressionist pieces. They have a couple of wonderful paintings by one of my favourite artists, the Belgian artist Théo van Rysselberghe. They also have some wonderful works by the Belgian artist Emile Claus, an artist I previously had not heard of. They also have some nice works by Rene Magritte, another Belgian artist. Here are my highlights from the gallery.
Théo van Rysselberghe
Emile Claus
Signac, Magritte, Stevens, De Smet, Nicholson and McEwan
The Art & History Museum, Brussels
This museum is located in a huge building in the Jubelpark, Brussels. The collection is more history than art, I had expected paintings but alas no. I would say it is more an ethnographic collection of world objects that an art gallery.
The museum is split into geographical regions, think Africa, Indonesia, native America etc. And it is huge. massive. You could never see it all properly in a day. Good value at 10 Euros. The collection I enjoyed the most was unsurprisingly the asian art, specifically India, Japan, Vietnam and Cambodia. They have some super bodhisattvas. However I did rush through this museum somewhat, which is unlike me. particularly because it was very bereft of people. I think I have hit museum and gallery tipping point amazingly!
I was also thinking why I am drawn to certain art, such as bodhisattvas, but have little interest in ceramics and silverware. I think I just have no interest in utilitarian pieces, I cannot see the beauty in them. Whereas devotional objects such as bodhisattvas I instantly see the beauty in them.
One of the failings of this gallery is that there is not a single object label in English. Not one. Just Dutch and French. Which surprises me as this is clearly a collection of international importance and must attract lots of international visitors. I also thought the lighting was pretty poor at times, lots of objects are in glass cases and are hard to see properly and photograph. Therefore some of my photos do not have descriptions. Anyway here are my highlights of the museum (all asian artworks!).
Ben Hills-Jones 