Read Online 1936 On the Continent by Eugene Fodor - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Eugene Fodor
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rooms by arranging these ancient treasures in more modern fashion—avoiding overcrowding, or hanging out of reach—with the happiest results. A thorough cleaning of certain masterpieces has done away with an impenetrable film of old varnish which covered many a delicate shade in an old picture, and has revealed glowing tints that had been buried for centuries.
“You must not get the old Museum mixed up with the modern Museum only a few yards distant from it.
“The modern Museum is well worth a visit, since it will give you a rapid view of Belgian artistic production for the last fifty years.
“If the antique inspires you, there is still the Museum of the Cinquantenaire, where Egyptian, Greek and Roman treasures are displayed. This contains marvellous tapestries too, and lace and china, and a host of delightful and varied objects that have settled down there in the name of art and history. The Army Museum is quite near to it.
“If our Colonial art interests you, you will visit the Tervueren Museum and its wonderful park situated a few miles out of Brussels. Electric trains will take you there in a few minutes. If you’re really passionately fond of African things, there is a tiny shop, Walschot, 71 rue de la Montagne, where you will find the finest collection of African objects in Belgium.
“Another old museum, small, curious and romantic, that attracts many foreign visitors is the Wiertz Museum.Here are assembled the various works of the painter Wiertz—a sort of visionary. There are others yet, but if you should have time to explore them, you’ll find any amount of information about them later on.
“Besides these museums, which keep the past alive for us, you should see the Palais des Beaux Arts. This building is quite recent and is situated in the centre of the town. It contains enormous galleries for exhibitions of painting and sculpture, several concert halls, one of which is remarkable and contains accommodation for 2,000 persons. Belgians are very fond of music (even to neglecting other arts in its favour), and very fine concerts conducted by the greatest of musicians are given almost every day. It is in this same building that you will find the cinema which I mentioned before.”
“And what about the country around Brussels?”
“We’re coming to that. But I seem to have forgotten a number of things about Brussels itself. Let me get that over first, my dear. You simply must pass through the popular streets of the town—the rue Haute, the rue Blaes, or the rue de Flandre. You’ll see faces beaming with good nature and hear strident, good-humoured voices. At the bottom of the rue Blaes you’ll find the ‘vieux marché,’ a sort of rag market where one can buy anything from a latch-key to a bird-cage, at a very reasonable price. Now and again, too, one finds a real bargain in the way of paintings or furniture.”
The Annual Fair
“The rue des Bouchers is interesting also—you can have lunch or supper there one day, for almost every establishment in the street is a restaurant. Many of them are ‘fritures,’ famous for their chips. Mussels and chips are a national dish, and if you like them you’ll find that they are deliciously prepared here.
“Have I forgotten anything? Yes. If you should be in Brussels between July 18th and August 20th you must visit the annual Brussels fair—complete with ancient and modern booths, attractions and merry-go-rounds.
“I think that’s about all.… Anyhow, that will give you a fairly accurate general impression—and I hope a pleasantone—of the citizens of Brussels, who are kind and jovial people.
“That’s all very well,” replied Muriel, “I shall certainly take back a more truthful picture of Belgium because I’ll have followed your advice and benefited by your explanation, but supposing I’d been on my own, what would I have done then?”
“My dear and absent-minded Muriel, you’d have started by buying O N THE C ONTINENT 1936, that
“You must not get the old Museum mixed up with the modern Museum only a few yards distant from it.
“The modern Museum is well worth a visit, since it will give you a rapid view of Belgian artistic production for the last fifty years.
“If the antique inspires you, there is still the Museum of the Cinquantenaire, where Egyptian, Greek and Roman treasures are displayed. This contains marvellous tapestries too, and lace and china, and a host of delightful and varied objects that have settled down there in the name of art and history. The Army Museum is quite near to it.
“If our Colonial art interests you, you will visit the Tervueren Museum and its wonderful park situated a few miles out of Brussels. Electric trains will take you there in a few minutes. If you’re really passionately fond of African things, there is a tiny shop, Walschot, 71 rue de la Montagne, where you will find the finest collection of African objects in Belgium.
“Another old museum, small, curious and romantic, that attracts many foreign visitors is the Wiertz Museum.Here are assembled the various works of the painter Wiertz—a sort of visionary. There are others yet, but if you should have time to explore them, you’ll find any amount of information about them later on.
“Besides these museums, which keep the past alive for us, you should see the Palais des Beaux Arts. This building is quite recent and is situated in the centre of the town. It contains enormous galleries for exhibitions of painting and sculpture, several concert halls, one of which is remarkable and contains accommodation for 2,000 persons. Belgians are very fond of music (even to neglecting other arts in its favour), and very fine concerts conducted by the greatest of musicians are given almost every day. It is in this same building that you will find the cinema which I mentioned before.”
“And what about the country around Brussels?”
“We’re coming to that. But I seem to have forgotten a number of things about Brussels itself. Let me get that over first, my dear. You simply must pass through the popular streets of the town—the rue Haute, the rue Blaes, or the rue de Flandre. You’ll see faces beaming with good nature and hear strident, good-humoured voices. At the bottom of the rue Blaes you’ll find the ‘vieux marché,’ a sort of rag market where one can buy anything from a latch-key to a bird-cage, at a very reasonable price. Now and again, too, one finds a real bargain in the way of paintings or furniture.”
The Annual Fair
“The rue des Bouchers is interesting also—you can have lunch or supper there one day, for almost every establishment in the street is a restaurant. Many of them are ‘fritures,’ famous for their chips. Mussels and chips are a national dish, and if you like them you’ll find that they are deliciously prepared here.
“Have I forgotten anything? Yes. If you should be in Brussels between July 18th and August 20th you must visit the annual Brussels fair—complete with ancient and modern booths, attractions and merry-go-rounds.
“I think that’s about all.… Anyhow, that will give you a fairly accurate general impression—and I hope a pleasantone—of the citizens of Brussels, who are kind and jovial people.
“That’s all very well,” replied Muriel, “I shall certainly take back a more truthful picture of Belgium because I’ll have followed your advice and benefited by your explanation, but supposing I’d been on my own, what would I have done then?”
“My dear and absent-minded Muriel, you’d have started by buying O N THE C ONTINENT 1936, that
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