The Brussels International Exposition of 1935 (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1935, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1935) was a

world's fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

held between 27 April and 6 November 1935 on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium.

History

The 1935 World's Fair was the tenth

hosted by Belgium, and the fourth in Brussels, following the fairs in 1888,

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puni ...

and

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

. Officially sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), twenty-five countries officially participated and a further five were unofficially represented. The theme was colonisation, on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Congo Free State. The exhibition attracted some twenty million visitors. The Belgian architect Joseph van Neck was the principal architect of the fair and of the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

''Palais des Expositions'' (also known as the ''Grand Palais''), with its interior concrete parabolic arches, and four heroic bronze statues on piers. Among many other contributors, Le Corbusier designed part of the French exhibit; the Belgian modernist architect

Victor Bourgeois Victor Bourgeois (29 August 1897 – 24 July 1962) was a Belgian architect and urban planner, considered the greatest Belgian modernist architect. Bourgeois was born in Charleroi and studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels from ...

designed the ''Palais des Expositions'' (or ''Grand Palais''), the Leopold II restaurant and the ''Soprocol'' pavilion. The Belgian art exposition prominently displayed the work of contemporary Belgian artists, including

Paul Delvaux Paul Delvaux (; 23 September 1897 – 20 July 1994) was a Belgian painter noted for his dream-like scenes of women, classical architecture, trains and train stations, and skeletons, often in combination. He is often considered a surrealist, alt ...

René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature and bound ...

and Louis Van Lint, boosting their careers. The ''Palais des Expositions'', and at least three other of the 1935 structures, were re-used for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (

Expo '58 Expo 58, also known as the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1958), was a world's fair held on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Bel ...

), which was held on the same site in 1958.

Gallery

File:EXPO Bruxelles 1935-A.jpg, The main entrance File:EXPO Bruxelles 1935-C.jpg, General view File:EXPO Bruxelles 1935-D.jpg, View towards the ''Palais des Expositions'' File:EXPO Bruxelles 1935-F.jpg, The ''Catholic life'' pavilion

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Official website of the BIE

BIE description
(PDF) {{Authority control World's fairs in Brussels 1935 in Belgium 1930s in Brussels Events in Brussels