Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles / Belgium

 

The Palais des Beaux-Arts / Paleis voor Schone Kunsten / Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels was designed by the architect Victor Horta (1861-1947) in Art Deco style, and completed in 1929 at the instigation of the banker and patron of the arts Henry Le Bœuf (1874-1935).

Horta took on many challenges: making art and culture accessible to as many people as possible, offering the best possible conditions for every form of artistic expression and creating a link between the upper and lower parts of the city. All this while maintaining architectural research.

The long entrance area gives access to the concert hall (named after Henry Le Boeuf) with a capacity of 2,200 seats, which, like the theater hall, is located on the lower floor. On the ground floor is the sculpture hall (now the Victor Horta Hall), which leads to the exhibition rooms on the upper floor via a large staircase. The large hall was also suitable for film screenings.

Since 2002, the cultural center has been divided into eight artistic departments under the name BOZAR: exhibitions, music, film, dance, theater, literature, studios and architecture

The modern postcard shows a view from 1958, Festival Mondial took place at the Palais. The World Film Festival was organized on the occasion of the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels.

There was also an International film poll. The poll received nominations from 117 critics from 26 nations. Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin received 100 votes, Chaplin's The Gold Rush second with 95 votes.

Pathé Palace in Bruxelles / Belgium

 I got this postcard with the view of the cinema Pathé Palace in Bruxelles from my sister. It is an old view on a new postcard.

The cinema Pathé Palace opened in 1913. The house was built as an auction house in 1881 by Albert Dumont (1853-1920). In 1913 the house was converted into a cinema in the trendy Italian style. The pioneer of Cinematography and now owner of the building, Pathé Frères, commissioned Paul Hamesse. 

The result was the largest cinema in Brussels with a capacity of 2,500 seats and space for an orchestra. It is the oldest surviving cinema in Belgium. On the roof of the house you can see the well-known symbol of Pathé - the rooster.

In 1950, architect Rie Haan undertook a thorough renovation to match the narrower tastes of the time. The dome disappeared under a false ceiling. The cinema disappeared total in 1973 and a home appliance store was built in its place.

In 1999, the cinema came back with the arrival of Kladaradatch (Yiddish for "big spectacle"). The new owners reassembled the different parts of the building and connected them through the PPCafé. Despite adequate public participation, bankruptcy followed after only a year and a half. Later the Théâtre National found a new home there. 

In February 2018, the cinema Pathé Palace reopened its doors after fourteen years of vacancy. More than 600 seats are available in the four rooms (373, 140, 80 and 60). The program consists mainly of art house films.