Knokke Casino (also called Knokke-Heist Casino; french: Casino de Knokke; nl, Casino Knokke) is a sea-front

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

in the town of

Knokke Knokke () is a town in the municipality of Knokke-Heist, which is located in the province of West Flanders in Flanders, Belgium. The town itself has 15,708 inhabitants (2007), while the municipality of Knokke-Heist has 33,818 inhabitants (2009). ...

, in the administrative community Knokke-Heist, in the province of West Flanders in Flanders, Belgium.

Description

The largest of Belgium's ten casinos, it is known for its permanent large-scale artworks by

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

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 bounda ...

, and

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 ...

. It is the first of four casinos, in different Belgian towns, designed by Belgian architect

Léon Stynen Léon Stynen (15 July 1899 – 13 May 1990) was a Belgian architect, urban planner and designer, from Antwerp. Some of his buildings have been categorized as "refined" Brutalist architecture and modern architecture. He has been called one of Bel ...

. The architectural style is said to have been influenced by

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

, along with

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 ...

and the designer's Beaux-Arts training. The late-1920s building was severely damaged during the Second World War. A subsequent renovation allowed surrealist master Magritte to create a giant 360° mural, finished in 1953, comprising eight panels called ''The Enchanted Domain''. Delvaux's ''Le Voyage Légendaire'' (1974), measuring , was originally installed at the Casino de Chaudfontaine, and later moved to the Knokke Casino. It shows a surreal outdoors panorama, depicting "the cave, the thick forest, the naked or dressed girls, the trains and tracks meticulously illustrated in the small station, the lights and electricity poles, the moon, the mailbox". The (chandelier room) contains a 6-ton chandelier made of Venetian crystal. The chandelier has a diameter of and is high. Some 22,000 pieces of glass were used and 2,700 lamps light up the main hall. It was created by architect J. Selis and designer Al David. Former members of the Casino's orchestra include, in the 1930s,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

violist ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

Jef Maes Jef "Joseph" Maes (5 April 1905 in Antwerp – 30 June 1996 in Antwerp) was a Belgian composer and violist. Encouraged by his friend, André Cluytens, he completed his study at the Flemish conservatory in Antwerp. He studied viola with Napoleon ...

History

In 1929, Jozef Nellens began construction for the casino, which was soon officially opened on July 5, 1930. Nellens managed the business until his death in 1934, when his son Gustave Nellens took over. The casino was only open four months out of each year, during the summer season. During World War II, the casino was partially occupied by German troops and heavily damaged by air raids. The building was restored by the original architect Léon Stynen, and was reopened in 1947. Beginning in 1949, major exhibitions were organized every summer, displaying works by artists such as

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

, and René Magritte. Other artists exhibited in the annual shows included

Balthus Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his image ...

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona i ...

Raoul Dufy Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvism, Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramic art, ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public bu ...

Jean Tinguely Jean Tinguely (22 May 1925 – 30 August 1991) was a Swiss sculptor best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines (known officially as Métamatics) that extended the Dada tradition into the later part of the 20th century. Tinguely's art s ...

, and Nikki de Saint Phalle. The popularity of the casino grew with musical performances featuring artists such as

Ray Ventura Raymond Ventura (16 April 1908, Paris, France – 29 March 1979, Palma de Mallorca, Spain) was a French jazz pianist and bandleader. He helped popularize jazz in France in the 1930s. His nephew was singer Sacha Distel. Career Ventura was born to ...

Josephine Baker Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...

Édith Piaf Édith Piaf (, , ; born Édith Giovanna Gassion, ; December 19, 1915– October 10, 1963) was a French singer, lyricist and actress. Noted as France's national chanteuse, she was one of the country's most widely known international stars. Pia ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

, and

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, l ...

. In the 1960s, the casino began opening year-round, as visitor traffic increased. In 1971, Jacques and Roger Nellens took over the management of the casino following the death of their father. The entertainment program was expanded with ballets, operas, concerts, poetry recitals, and film festivals; some events were televised. In 1987, further renovations were made to the building which resulted in the casino's current appearance. In 1990, the casino was recognized as part of the Flemish architectural heritage.

Events

Among the events held at the casino are finals of the

Miss Belgium Miss Belgium is a national beauty pageant in Belgium. The winner of Miss Belgium automatically represents her country at the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants if the dates do not overlap. Rules *Belgian nationality *to be never married and ...

contest, competitions to select the Belgian entry for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, and the premiere of

Hugo Claus Hugo Maurice Julien Claus (; 5 April 1929 – 19 March 2008) was a leading Belgian author who published under his own name as well as various pseudonyms. Claus' literary contributions spanned the genres of drama, the novel, and poetry; he also l ...

' dramatic sketch '. In July 1963,

headlined at casino for the fifth . During this engagement, he performed the classic "Mathilde" for the first time.

References

External links

* (English page) {{Authority control Casinos in Belgium West Flanders René Magritte 1953 in art 1930 establishments in Belgium Knokke-Heist