In the latest issue of the Revue W+B, published by Wallonia-Brussels International, discover the exhibition which marks the reopening of the Fine Arts Mons Museum, as well as the city's new museum center.

It's the event of the spring in Mons: the Fine Arts Museum is back in operation! To mark the occasion, a major exhibition dedicated to the French sculptor Auguste Rodin is being launched on the very first day.

If patience is indeed a virtue, then the public is set for a wonderful reward. After more than a year of renovation, a brand new museum complex is opening in the centre of Mons. Indeed, the Fine Arts Museum is not the only site to have undergone extensive refurbishment.

Directly opposite it, the "Poirier Beurré" garden and the House dedicated to the history of Mons, also known as the former Jean Lescarts museums can be found. These three spaces have been completely redesigned and enhanced under the name CAP, a French acronym for Culture, Art and Heritage. These are strong values for a project that is just as significant, with everything designed to foster dialogue between each entity.

The focus here is on the Fine Arts Museum, which is set to shine once again with a major exhibition on Rodin. This is a speciality, considering the prominent figures who have been featured in the past such as Vincent Van Gogh (2015), Niki de Saint Phalle (2018), Roy Lichtenstein (2020) and Miro (2022). The exhibition on the Spanish painter was a huge success just before the museum closed with almost 90,000 visitors in three months. All the more reason to hope for the best with the French sculptor. The enthusiasm is well-founded. It took three years to set up this international exhibition. At the helm are two women: Antoinette Le Normand-Romain (Honorary Director of the National Institute for Art History and a Rodin specialist) and Christina Buley-Uribe (Art Historian). Their expertise is much-needed, given the artist's impressive body of work.

But why feature Rodin in this city in Hainaut? Why him? Beyond the obviousness of his talent (he is, after all, considered the father of modern sculpture), there is his journey. For seven years, the artist lived in Belgium. And as he admits in his memoirs, it was the happiest period of his life. It's worth noting that the kingdom offered great opportunities for emerging artists in the second half of the nineteenth century. The young country was looking to refine its national mythology with statues glorifying its heroes, as well as significant buildings. An ideal environment for Auguste, who arrived in Brussels in 1870. He was thirty years old at the time and contributed to the decorative works of the stock exchange. Remarkable beginnings: he created a decorative frieze on the themes of industry, agriculture, art and the sciences. At night, he slept in a servant's room, far from his family back in France. A year later, he set up his studio in Ixelles, in a street that would later bear his name. His success was modest, but enough to allow him to send money to his wife, who joined him with their five-year-old son.

He then moved to Etterbeek before renting a house near the Sonian Forest. Rodin became an important figure on the Belgian art scene. He created the bust of Beethoven on the façade of the music conservatory and an original of The Thinker for Joseph Dillen's tomb in Laeken. But he was not yet famous. For that, he had to complete a life-sized nude that occupied him until 1877. It's name: The Age of Bronze. It was his first work in bronze, and was created in Belgium before moving to Paris. This makes his presence at the Mons exhibition even more symbolic.

The Fine Arts Museum will present nearly two hundred works from public and private collections, including plasters, watercolours, engravings and marbles, some of which have never been seen before. This is because the Mons museum has been privileged to receive exceptional loans from Europe's leading museums. These include the Royal Museums of Brussels, the Orsay, Louvre and Decorative Arts museums, the Petit Palais and Rodin Museum in Paris and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. An event to look forward to for the reopening. With financial support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Wallonia, the exhibition will focus on Rodin's style and treatment of the body. Another useful point to note is that his works will be echoed by the sculptures by Jacques Du Broeucq (an iconic sixteenth-century artist) housed at the Collegiate Church of Sainte-Waudru in Mons (which will also host some of Rodin's works). There will also be a contemporary element with sculptures by the Belgian artist Berlinde de Bruyckere. This will be an opportunity to explore her sharp perspective on the master. And finally, in a new approach to museum presentation, The Burghers of Calais monument will be displayed in the Mayor's Garden at Mons Town Hall.

Culture, art and heritage

What about the culture, art and heritage (CAP) then? For visitors wishing to extend their experience, a detour through the six-hundred-square-meter garden and the Collections House is a must. The Collections House is located in the former Jean Lescarts Museum, which has been closed for many years. It's well worth going inside... There, the history of Mons is revealed through the municipal collections. It's a great way to delve into the city's past and future, for that is precisely the objective of this permanent tour: to promote heritage and encourage reflection. Finally, the "Poirier Beurré" garden is a great place to breathe and be inspired, a brilliant concept as it serves as a bridge between the Fine Arts Museum and the Collections House. It's worth noting that the garden is accessible for free from the street and is divided into three sections: the botanical-historical section, the permaculture section and the open-air cafe, perfect for a coffee break.

But why is this museum project so promising? With CAP, the City of Mons wanted to offer the public a civic and participatory experience. Here, the talents of three artists are put to good use. The VOID visual artist collective developed the sound system for the tunnel connecting the Fine Arts Museum to the Collections House. Designer Lucile Soufflet made the outdoor furniture. And visual artist Raphaël Decoster created a monumental mural from Rue Neuve to the garden. The overarching idea is to encourage citizens to be curious and give them a better understanding of history and raise awareness of the importance of culture.

Key information

• The site has a surface area of 5,000 m²
• The exhibition "Rodin, a Modern Renaissance" runs from 13 April to 18 August 2024
• Practical information can be found at www.cap.mons.be

By Nadia Salmi

This article comes from Revue W+B n°163.