An exposition in honour of the painter Paul Delvaux (1897-1994), who drew inspiration from the railway world for many of his paintings, began at Train World on Tuesday.
The expo, which runs until 15 March 2020, marks the 25th anniversary of the artist’s death.
Some 50 works and personal belongings of the surrealist painter, some of them coming from the museum dedicated to him at Saint-Idesbald and others from private collections, are on display at the train museum. A train from the Belgian national railway company, SNCB, decked out in the colours of the artist, is also running on the network.
Paul Delvaux fans are likely to be delighted at seeing the works of the man who loved trains exposed at the heart of this place where the most precious pieces of Belgium’s railway patrimony are kept.
The young girl in a red dress depicted in many of Paul Delvaux’s paintings on the platform of a train station comes to life for the exposition and guides visitors through it.
Visitors will be able to view paintings and drawings such as the iconic “La Gare forestière” (1960), and those depicting women in the world of trains, including “L’Age de fer" (1952) and "Le voyage légendaire" (1974).
Over the next four months, these works will join the four Delvaux paintings permanently housed at the museum since early September: "Gare la Nuit I & II" and "Gare de Jour I & II". SNCB CEO Sophie Dutordoir took these paintings from her office and made them available to the public.
This is the third temporary expo at Train World, which has received 575,000 visitors since opening its doors in 2015. Director Pieter Jonckers hopes to attract 80,000 to the Paul Delvaux Exposition.
The Brussels Times
