The van Buuren Museum & Gardens marks 100 years of Art Deco in Belgium and celebrates its 50th anniversary since its opening to the public with a new exhibition ‘AROUND ART DECO. Interbellum sculptures'.
The exhibition takes place from 24 April to 28 September 2025 and is devoted to the inter-war period when the van Buuren villa was built by David and Alice Van Buuren.
David van Buuren was a Jewish-Dutch banker and art collector. When Nazi Germany occupied Belgium in 1940, the couple was forced to flee to the US where they spent the war years in New York. A room in the villa documents the history of the building and the life of the couple.
In 1970, Alice van Buuren created the Foundation van Buuren Museum & Gardens with the aim of preserving and sharing this exceptional artistic and cultural work. The museum and gardens have recently undergone a major renovation to mark 100 years of Art Deco in 2025.
The house itself is a renowned Art Deco treasure in the Brussels-Capital Region, located in the municipality of Uccle, and contains unique and rare furniture, carpets, stained glass windows, sculptures and paintings by internationally renowned artists. The villa has remained completely unchanged through the ages, preserving the integrity of the Art Deco ensemble.
According to the curators of the exhibition, the inter-war period marked a turning point in the history of art, particularly in the field of sculpture. Influenced by Cubism and Futurism, the works of this period went on to incorporate an Art Deco elegance, characterised by clean lines, stylised forms and geometric motifs.
Visitors to the exhibition will be able to admire works by Belgian artists such as Philippe Wolfers, Rik Wouters, Oscar Jespers, Oscar De Clerck, Constant Permeke and Dolf Ledel, as well as international figures such as Ossip Zadkine, Aristide Maillol and the Martel brothers.
It is also an opportunity to present a number of female sculptors who are still too little known, such as Yvonne Serruys, Jeanne Tercafs and Rachel Van Dantzig. The sculptures, from both public and private collections, strike a balance between the figurative and the avant-garde, while avoiding overly academic approaches.
The exhibition will take place both in the museum and in the gardens, an Art Deco space that will be in perfect harmony with the sculptures on display. This dialogue between landscape architecture and sculptural works promises an immersive experience, transporting visitors back to the elegance of the period.
The van Buuren Gardens were created by two of Belgium's most eminent landscape architects of the 20th century and are composed of six distinct areas: the Picturesque Garden, the Small Rose Garden, the Large Rose Garden, the Labyrinth, the Garden of the Heart and the Orchard.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION EXHIBITION AROUND ART DECO. Interbellum sculptures 24.04 > 28.09.2025 Curators: Eric Hennaut and Manon Magotteaux van Buuren Museum & Tuinen Leo Erreralaan 41 1180 Brussels |
The Brussels Times