Gare du Nord: Belgische en Nederlandse kunstenaars in Parijs (1850-1950)

Abstract

Gare du Nord' is a book about desire. Around 1900, new generations of artists from the Low Countries moved to Paris, the undisputed cultural capital of the world. They sought inspiration and success in the Ville Lumière. Their fuel: lofty ambition, youthful hubris, horniness and hunger for what was new - unseen and unheard of. They learned about life in studios and salons, but also in the cafes on the boulevards or in the sweet smell of the metro stations. En passant they also invented modernity. Eric Min brushes a group portrait of painters, writers and photographers in which figures such as Van Gogh and Rops, Wiertz and Verhaeren, Mondriaan and Masereel, Simenon and Claus are joined by contemporaries for whom history is less attractive. used to be. Who remembers Marthe Donas, or Théo Reeder? Camille Platteel? Andre Baillon? Ed van der Elsken? Elly Overzier? The decor: a metropolis as a diorama. A magic lantern. A city where the lights never go out