Bruxelles 1900

Exhibition at the Petit Palais, Paris, 10 November 2026 – 25 April 2027

In the autumn of 1900, at the recently inaugurated Grand Palais in Paris, visitors to the World’s Fair discovered, within the exhibition dedicated to foreign nations, a Belgian section that met with unanimous enthusiasm: nearly 150 paintings and sculptures from Belgium were seen as a true revelation. This recognition in Paris established Brussels as one of Europe’s major artistic centres at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Within avant-garde salons such as La Libre Esthétique, numerous artists – Fernand Khnopff, James Ensor, Théo Van Rysselberghe, Henry van de Velde, George Minne… – shared the ambition to create a wholly new visual language by exploring new artistic trends: Symbolism, Idealism, Neo-Impressionism, Luminism and Social Art. This marked the birth of Art Nouveau, which sought to achieve harmony in all fields.

This exhibition catalogue captures this extraordinary cultural flourishing through more than 250 works: paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, posters, jewellery, photographs, architecture and graphic arts.