7.4 Belgian presences at the 1906 International Exhibition in Milan
Grouped together here are all the architects, designers and craftsmen who desire to faithfully express their feelings and refuse to copy defunct forms; here, in accordance with the wishes of Milan’s organizers, ‘the slavish imitators of past styles’ have no place.1
7
Henry Vaes,
Belgian Pavilion at the 1906 International Exhibition in Milan, 1906,
photogravure,
Archivio Storico Fondazione Fiera, Milan, inv. no. AL_1906_1_44
8
Victor Horta,
Belgian Pavilion of Decorative Arts at the 1902 International Exhibition for Modern Decorative Arts in Turin, 1902
The work of Fierens-Gevaert and other ambassadors of Belgian symbolism before him, allowed Belgian idealist painters to shine at the 1906 exhibition in Milan. Belgium participated in the exhibition with a general national pavilion in neo-Flemish style designed by Henry Vaes (1876-1945) [7] and a pavilion of decorative arts, designed by Victor Horta (1861-1947). Horta was a renowned Art Nouveau architect who had idealist tendencies and was a freemason. Previously, he had designed the Belgian Pavilion at the First International Exhibition for Modern Decorative Arts in Turin (1902) [8].2 We do not have pictures of the building Horta designed in 1906, but from the press we know that the facade was in white plaster with thin gold fine strips, decorated with a sculptural group by Pierre Braecke (1858-1938), Les filles de l’inspiration [9].3
9
Pierre Braecke, Les filles de l’inspiration, before 1906,
marble,
photo Goffredo Bendinelli Collection, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
10
Anonymous, Portrait of Constant Montald, 1930. Photo credits André Montald
11
Anonymous,
Portrait of Jean Delville, ca. 1910,
Collection Miriam Delville
Besides smaller rooms representing typical Belgian interiors from different towns, Horta’s pavilion also held larger areas, most notably the hall of monumental paintings and the hall of honor.4 Four monumental paintings by Constant Montald [10], Jean Delville [11], Albert Ciamberlani [12], and Émile Fabry [13] were displayed in these salons. This raises the question: why did the Italian exhibitions offer more fertile ground for these works than the Belgian context? The answer lies both in the personal histories of their makers and in the particular artistic environment of the Italian exhibitions, most notably the 1906 Milan event.5 In this city, Fabry was the only one who had exhibited in Italy before (La force was shown in Turin in 1902), while the others presented their works there for the very first time.
12
Albert Ciamberlani,
Self-portrait, ca. 1890-1895,
oil on canvas (?), unknown location
13
Suzanne Fabry,
Portrait of Émile Fabry, 1940,
oil on canvas, 120 x 83 cm,
Maison atelier Émile Fabry, Brussels, inv. no. 11029766
Notes
1 Fierens-Gevaert 1906A, p. 11.
2 Dulière 1997; Paget 2021.
3 Pica 1906A, p. 7.
4 The walls and the velarium of the hall of honor were blue and yellow, meaningful colors for idealist circles, especially for theosophic ones. A.B., 1906; Pica 1906A, p. 7.
5 This article does not deal with other important works by Belgian symbolists, shown in another section of the exhibition, such as L’isolement by Fernand Khnopff and Le Détrônement by Charles Doudelet, as they were conceived as individual contributions. The case of Doudelet was exceptional as Fierens refused to host his work in his pavilion, since he was living in Italy at the time.