Avant garde art and an alpine garden in the Brussels Green Belt

The FeliXart and Eco Museum in Drogenbos and the Bloemendal rock garden in Huizingen.

Tucked away in the centre of the small urbanized Flemish municipality (with language facilities) of Drogenbos, the FeliXart museum is situated in an oasis of 5 hectares of green, including the farmland that once belonged to Felix De Boeck (1898-1995), one of the pioneers of Belgian abstract painting.

The museum with its modern white architecture opened in 1996 and focuses on historical and contemporary avant-garde art. The museum not only displays a sample of its permanent collection but in recent years it also gained an important place within the expertise on avant-garde, interbellum and abstract art, thanks to exhibitions, projects and publications of national and international standing.

FeliXart museum, Drogenbos

The museum is situated next to a large orchard and an 18^th-century listed farm with a small herb and kitchen garden. Felix De Boeck, a leading avant-gardist, chose to settle on the family farm in Drogenbos and to work on the farm to provide for his livelihood, which makes this versatile artist unique in Belgian art history.

Felix De Boeck, painter, 1992

After our guided visit to the museum and the garden, we will have lunch in a nearby restaurant, where the annual general meeting (AGM) will take place as well.

The rock garden “Bloemendal” in the provincial domain of Huizingen (Torleylaan 100 – 1654 Huizingen) is unique. There are only four of this kind in all of Europe. No surprise that in 2003  the garden was listed as a protected monument.

It was created at the occasion the Expo 58 according to a design of Paul De Wit, the then director of the provincial horticultural school in Anderlecht. The design fits in with the horticultural trend at the time of the “Nouveau Jardin Pittoresque”, when a wild, natural looking garden was fashionable.

Bloemendal garden, Huizingen

Some figures: 1027 tons of boulders were brought in from the Meuse valley for the construction the garden. A 400 meter long artificial mountain stream was laid out bridging a height difference of 36 meters and for which more than 20.000 cubic meters of earth was dug out.

In 2022 the garden was reopened after a thorough restauration lasting many years. The aim  was to regenerate the garden through new planting, the judicious removal, felling or narrowing of existing plants and trees and restoring the stream, the walking paths, rock formations and waterfalls.

In 2022 the restauration got the Hans Vredeman De Vries award from the Louise Vanden Bulcke / King Baudouin Foundations in the framework of their policy of encouraging projects of maintenance and restauration of historic parks and gardens in Flanders.

Programme:

10.00-10.30: participants meet in the coffee bar of the museum where they will be offered a welcome coffee or tea.

10.30-12.15: guided visit of museum and garden. We shall split up in a English and Dutch-speaking group, each with a guide.

In addition to our visit to the permanent collection of the avant-gardist painter Felix De Boeck, we will also have the chance to admire Futuromarennia or  a radical dream for another world, an exhibition organised by Mystetski Arnsenal in Kiev before the war broke out and dedicated to futurism and the avant-garde in Ukraine in the 1910-1930s.

12.15-14.30: lunch at restaurant “Kzeg a Moda” Sterstraat , 2 1620 Drogenbos followed by the Annual General Assembly during which Jan Grauls, our chairman, will present the committee members report.

The restaurant is located less than a 5- minute walk from the museum. Lunch will consist of 2 courses incl. 1 glass of wine/beer/soft drink plus coffee or tea. All additional drinks will be at the expense of participants. Vegetarian or gluten free meals will be served to participants who indicated this at registration.

14.30-15.00: departure for the Bloemendal garden in Huizingen: Henry Torleylaan, 100 1654 Huizingen via RO/E19; a 14 minutes drive (8,5 km)

Head north on Kuikenstraat to Zennebeemd. After 600m turn left on the Verlengde Stallestraat/N261. Continue for 800m and then use the left lanes to turn left to get onto the E19 direction Mons/Paris. Continue until exit 20  Huizingen /Alsemberg. Keep left at the fork to continue towards Steenweg naar Alsemberg. And 500 m turn left again for the Henry Torleylaan. The provincial domain of Huizingen is on your right. There is ample parking space. We meet in front of the entrance gate/counter.

15.00-16.30: guided visit of the Bloemendal rock garden in 2 groups with English and Dutch speaking guides.

• If you have registered and paid for this event, let the organizer know, preferably by e-mail, so that he  can arrange for more detailed and practical information in the week preceding the outing ( list of participants, carpooling, lifts etc)

How to get there:

• By car : from Brussels take RO/E19 direction Mons/Paris and get off at exit 18 toward Drogenbos, follow the ‘Verlengde Stallestraat’ /N261 and turn right into the Kuikenstraat.  The museum is at your right. 

Place your parking disc when you park in Drogenbos. There is a private parking reserved for visitors to the museum with only a limited number of parking lots. An alternative is the parking space of the Aldi supermarket along the Grote Baan nearby.

• By public transport: from Brussels South/Midi-Zuidstation: take tram 4 direction Stalle Parking and get off at the terminus. From there it is a 10-minute walk to the museum.

Notice: participants are kindly asked to arrange for as much carpooling as possible or to communicate their willingness to give a lift to others who have no car. This will be all the more necessary for our visit of the Bloemendal garden in the afternoon, especially for participants who plan to travel to Drogenbos by public transport and must therefore be able to count on a lift to Huizingen and back.