Metadata: Museum archives/II
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- Archives of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archives des Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique
- Postal address:
- Rue du Musée 9 / Museumstraat 9, 1000 Bruxelles
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)2 508 33 98
- Email:
- info@fine-arts-museum.be
- Reference number:
- ArRMusFA-Brussels-FM/II
- Title:
- Museum archives/II
- Title (official language):
- Fonds Musée/II
- Creator/accumulator:
- Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique; Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België
- Date(s):
- 1843/1953
- Date note:
- 1843 - ca. 1940
- Extent:
- ca. 10,000 files
- Scope and content:
- This fonds notably contains files and documents related to the oeuvre of Jewish artists, to Jewish collectors and Belgian Jewish personalities. The material is dispersed among the many files; the following files are only a few examples. The fonds notably contains files concerning: the acquisition of artworks and refused offers (e.g. the sale of a bust of Mademoiselle Van Dantzig, no. 3072/17 and no. 6090/3/3), loans of works owned by the MRBAB (incl. the marble sculpture Floreal by Philippe Wolfers in 1928, no. 5457), bequests of artworks (incl. the bequest of Marie Errera, no. 5396 and of Paul Errera and Isabelle Errera-Goldschmidt, no. 5592), gifts (notably by Mrs. Goldschmidt-Bisschoffsheim, no. 4890, and by baron Léon Cassel, no. 5776), loans from private collections (notably of Franz Philippson, president of the Amis des Musées royaux de l’État à Bruxelles in 1920-1921, no. 5347/1 and no. 5798/2), sale of artworks (incl. the sale of the Philippe Wolfers collection in 1935, no. 6020/57), requests for information as well as files related to restorations, the organisation of exhibitions, etc. We also note a number of files that reflect the situation in which many artists found themselves in the second half of the 1930s (no. 5993). Jewish artists but also individuals (Jewish refugees from Germany in particular), hit by the crisis and the deteriorating socio-economic situation, tried to sell their works to the MRBAB (cfr. notably file no. 5993, related to the group l’Ami de l’Artiste which reflects the predicament of certain artists including Schirren, 1934-1936). We also find a number of documents concerning Jewish artists and donors in the files related to the Comité de Patronage (notably no. 5762, covering the years 1927-1953), which consist of material concerning nominations, the decease, decorations and resignations of the members of this committee. They include documents concerning members of the committee such as Franz Philippson, Philippe Wolfers, baron Léon Cassel and baron Lambert, notably related to their death and often, for example, emphasising the role they have played as generous benefactors of the royal museums.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique / Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België (Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium) was created by virtue of the consular decree of 14 Fructidor year IX, better known as the Chaptal decree. The museum opened to the public two years later and Guillaume Bosschaert was its first curator. The museum, owned by the city of Brussels since 1811, was ceded to the newly created Belgian state according to the agreement of 31 December 1842. In 1907 the first ‘society of friends’ was created: les Amis des Musées royaux de l’État à Bruxelles, counting among its members many dignitaries and personalities of the Jewish financial and industrial elite, including baron Léon Cassel, Léon Lambert, Franz Philippson and Jules Philippson. In 1919, after the First World War, the Museum was directed by chief curator Hippolyte Fierens-Gevaert. Today, the collections of the MRBAB include over 20000 works of art. Today, the MRBAB comprises the Old Masters Museum, the Modern Museum, the Wiertz Museum, Meunier Museum, Magritte Museum and the Fin-de-Siècle Museum. (http://www.fine-arts-museum.be; M. van Kalck (ed.), Les Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique. Deux siècles d’histoire, Bruxelles, éd. Dexia Banque et Racine, 2003.)
- Access points: locations:
- Brussels
- Access points: persons/families:
- Cassel, Léon
- Errera-Goldschmidt, Isabelle
- Errera, Marie
- Errera, Paul
- Goldschmidt-Bisschoffsheim, Mrs
- Lambert, Léon
- Philippson, Franz
- Schirren, Ferdinand
- Wolfers, Philippe
- Access, restrictions:
- Consultation is possible by appointment with the archivist of the MRBAB.
- Finding aids:
- There is a printed inventory available at the Archives department of the MRBAB.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
