Filling the bottomless pit: Financing the construction of the Royal Museums of Art and History in interwar Belgium (1919–39)

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the interwar years, when Belgium struggled to overcome the destructions of the First World War and the economic slump of the Great Depression, the government launched one of the most ambitious construction projects in Belgian history. At the Parc du Cinquantenaire an impressive ensemble of buildings, halls and galleries was constructed during the 1920s and 1930s to house the collections of the Royal Museums of Art and History. Drawing new evidence from the archives of the museum, newspaper articles, and parliamentary proceedings, this article will examine how the curators in chief managed to secure enough funding for these ambitious projects in times of deep economic crisis. It will be argued that this tour de force was the result of a combination of factors, including intense lobbying, putting forward convincing arguments, and deploying a pragmatic realpolitik.