Hidden Belgium: Forgotten artists’ studios in Saint-Gilles

The Brussels commune of Saint-Gilles has always been an artistic neighbourhood.

There are dozens of former artists’ houses dating from the 19th century. They are easy to spot as you wander around, as most were built with a large studio window facing north.

The romantic artist André Hennebicq occupied an impressive neoclassical mansion at Rue de Lausanne 1-3. He worked in the large studio at the top of the house painting scenes from Belgian history.

He made a decent living producing canvases to hang in the town halls of Mons and Leuven. Enough to build himself this impressive corner house.

Not far away, Armand Massonet owned a Flemish Renaissance brick house at Rue de la Source 85. A bronze plaque on the wall is illustrated with a portrait of the artist. Massonet worked as a war artist during the First World War, capturing the brutality of the trenches. His work became more joyful in the 1920s when he often painted jazz bars and cabarets.