Science & Fine Arts

The Bayard Horse by Oliver Strebelle at Esplanade Square

SCIENCE &

FINE ARTS

BUILDING A WORLD FOR MAN !

 Toward greater knowledge

Toward greater power

Toward greater beauty

Toward greater hope and love

Love and the spirit wil make the civilization of the future

The Universal Exhibition: the promise of a new Alliance

  Display of atomic phenomena

 

Fine Arts at Expo 58

 

The Fine Arts section was set up in the Heysel Palace VII. It was very complete and all kinds of arts got demonstrated in an attractive scope. For most of the visitors a real introduction to plastic arts like paintings, ceramics, burning glass, forge work and jewellery.

 

People could admire modern artwork of world famous artist like Cézanne, Gauguin, Ensor, Monet, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso, Dali, Magritte, Delvaux, Hopper and so on.

 

But not only this hall showed artwork. The entire exhibition site was cheer up with sculptures, fresco’s and artistic variations. Practically each contribution reserved place in its pavilion for domestic arts.

Art loving visitors were in a good time at Expo 58.

 

Also special attention for drama and scenes, music, film and literature. Almost daily, people could enjoy various productions organized in the large auditorium of the Heysel halls. Also many appearances took place in the pavilions and several got organised in the Belgian big cities. 

 

Artistic movies demonstrated the most recent developments in projection systems like the Russian Kinopanorama and the American Circarama. On the occasion of the world fair, the 1958 edition of the International Film Festival took place in the Heysel Halls.

 

 

The International Palace

of Science

 

The Science Section was located in the Heysel Palace VI and accentuated the science of outer space, geology, chemistry, physics, medicine, biology and so on. Also there was a department of the Belgian South Pole expedition with a scale-model of the Belgica.

15 participating countries: Belgium, The Netherlands, USA, Great Britain, France, Spain, Israel, Yugoslavia, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, USSR, Czecko-Slovakia

 

The intention of this realisation was to give even the common visitor an intelligible  image of the developments of the last 25 years in 4 domains of the basic of science:

 

¨      the MOLECULE

¨      the ATOM

¨      the CRYSTAL

¨      the LIVING CELL

 

and evenso the connections between those 4 domains, through which the unit of the science was demonstrated.

The exhibition would be a milestone on the way of science. 'Pure' science was shown and this common scientific work was in accordance with the new dynamic humanism of that period.

2 Million visitors were very much interested and impressed by the image of electromagnetic phenomenon's from the radiation of the nuclear micro cosmos until the Herzwaves, beside the expedients like: the chamber of Wilson, the Geiger-Muller counter, the nuclear plate, the spectroscope, the camera, the photo-electric cell, thermo-electric elements, radar, the receive-antenna etc.

The Firebird, classical ballet on the occasion of Expo 58

From classic concerts conducted by Von Karajan, to the jazz gigs of Benny Goodman

  Graphic representations of magnetism and cell division

Several masterpieces of renowned artists in Palace VII

Artistic support for a tired visitor

 

There was great interest for paintings and sculptures of international artists in Palace VII

Expo guardians on their way to their job. Halls with fine arts were kept under strict surveillance

Matisse,

Dali,

Wouters but also African arts at the Brussels world fair

Burning glass artwork stained by Belgian artist Martens

A Kinopanorama projection of a North Pole expedition

Click here for a detailled Expo map