The Moderns. Art during the Great War

This is the seventh in a series of exhibitions on The Moderns at Koningin Fabiolazaal, a venue run by the Province of Antwerp.In the years prior to World War I, the futurist work ofJules Schmalzigaug evoked a sense of progress, speed and technological innovation. The art of Rik Wouters was a celebration of vitality and joie de vivre. But then came the shock of war. This exhibition illustrates the profound impact of this event and its aftermath on art and literature in Belgium. Some artists and writers fled to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, where they came into contact with foreign art movements. Others tried to capture life behind or on the frontline.

The experience of war
Paul van Ostaijen confronted his traumas in the experimental poetry of Bezette Stad and De Feesten van Angst en Pijn. But other writers in Antwerp and Flanders were also deeply affected by the experience of war. This exhibition is built around six central figures, Rik WoutersEmile VerhaerenCyriel BuysseAndré de RidderJules Schmalzigaug and Paul van Ostaijen. It explores how each was affected by the Great War.

Koningin Fabiolazaal 
Jezusstraat 28 
2000 Antwerp


Opening hours

From 20 September 2014 to 11 January 2015
Thuesday to Sunday: 10am - 17pm, Saturday: 10 am - 6pm
Last admissions are 30 minutes before closing time. Closed on Mondays, 25 and 26 December 2014 and 1 and 2 January 2015.


Exhibitions and events

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Permanent exhibition

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