20 Brussels events in 2020: #7. Paul Delvaux. The man who loved trains

Belgium was one of the pioneers of transport by rail, with the first railway on the European continent, a flourishing locomotive fabrication industry and eventually the densest rail, light rail and tram network in the world.

Paul Delvaux, the celebrated Belgian surrealist painter, loved trains. The Schaerbeek train station built in 1913 is a surreal construction that looks like it’s part of a Jules Verne dream. Train World is a Brussels museum that celebrates Belgian locomotives and trains. Put the three together and you have an outstanding, unique experience.

On the 25th anniversary of the death of the painter, Delvaux’s paintings are beautifully integrated into the remarkable scenography of the museum, gorgeously designed locomotives serving as a backdrop to Delvaux’s work.

From his early drawings of the 1920s to the watercolors of the 1930s and the monumental works of the 1950s to 70s, some 50 works are exhibited. They are loans from the Paul Delvaux Museum as well as from private collectors, so it’s an assemblage which will probably never be repeated. Additionally there are personal possessions of the artist including scale models of trains that he commissioned.

Until 15 March, Train World

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