If you go to Antwerp (and you should) I'd recommend a trip to Middelheim Park in the leafy eastern suburbs, which has a fine open-air collection of sculptures.
Some are out on the lawns, in the open:
Others lurk in the woods:
Or sit on the paths:
It's the one place in the city I try to see on each visit.
It's not as though Antwerp lacks cultural sites, of course - far from it - but as Rembrandt is to Amsterdam, so Rubens is to Antwerp, and I know which city has the better of that one. The Christ in The Elevation of the Cross in the cathedral looks like he spent so much time working out it's a wonder he ever managed any preaching or miracle-working. 40 days in the wilderness? More like 40 days on an intensive protein bulk diet regimen combined with long sessions pumping iron. Gotta look good on that cross.
I much prefer the landscapes. Water and sky:
That's the Rupel, south of Antwerp, just before it joins the Schelde. There are now wind turbines up by the power station ahead instead of the old windmills, but not much has changed.
My Antwerp favourites - the Mayer van den Bergh museum and the Kulminator pub (Vleminckveld 32), possibly the only bar in the world that serves beer by year of brewing - ie you can order a 1995 Chimay Rouge.
Posted by: Martin Adamson | August 28, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Beautiful. Do you know the back-stories of any of the sculptures? The second looks like two pregnant women, and the fourth looks like a manger scene, but the others don't appear to have any religious context.
Posted by: Dom | August 28, 2009 at 03:06 PM
Martin: hadn't heard of the pub - thanks for the tip.
Dom: yes, those women are indeed "Two pregnant women talking". I should have taken down more details. I think it may be by Rik Wouters, a Belgian artist, from about 100 years ago. Which would make it one of the older sculptures there.
Generally it's a modern collection, with more or less zero religious subject matter. There are a couple of Rodins, a Henry Moore, but generally the sculptors aren't household names.
The manger symbolism for number four hadn't struck me, but I guess it's there now you mention it. The girl running is just "Girl Running" as far as I remember.
Sorry - I should have taken down more details.
Posted by: Mick H | August 28, 2009 at 03:41 PM
two pregnant women - by Charles LePlae (a relative of mine)
Posted by: Luis Enrique | May 11, 2011 at 04:49 PM
A relative? Blimey. I corrected myself about the attribution of that sculpture here - http://mickhartley.typepad.com/blog/2010/06/middelheim-revisited.html. It's definitely one of my Middelheim favourites.
Posted by: Mick H | May 11, 2011 at 11:16 PM