Registration is now open for the international conference (Re)searching connections. Artists' international social networks 1750-1914 in Rome next fall 2025, co-organised by (former) ThIS-members Thijs Dekeukeleire and Fien Messens.
21 mei 2025: colloquium over Belgische art nouveau in Parijs (Hôtel de Wignacourt) georganiseerd door het Hortamuseum, met bijdragen van ThIS-onderzoekers Tom Packet en Werner Adriaenssens
5 mei 2025: PhD defence of ThIS-researcher Bart Nuytinck at Hôtel Falligan, Gent
24 April 2025: Jaarlijkse Studiedag Historisch Interieur & Design in STAM, Gent
Dec. 2024: ThIS now also has an Instagram-account. Start following us on Instagram!
Nov. 2024: Julie Landuyt started her PhD research as an assistant of the FWO-Flanders, entitled “Ses travaux sont nombreux et resteront longtemps utiles”. Women and the Brussels’ royal museums, 1870-1945. Welcome, Julie!
9 Dec. 2024: public PhD Defense of Tom Packet at VUB: "Allies in Architecture? WWI and the Americanisation of Belgian Architecture, 1890-1939"
15 Oct. 2024: Opening of the exhibition "Untold Stories – Vrouwelijke ontwerpers in België, 1880-1980/ Women designers in Belgium, 1880-1980" in Design Museum Brussel, as a Belgian pendant to the large international Vitra Design exhibition on women designers in the same venue. Curated by Nina Serulus, Javier Gimeno-Martinez & Marjan Sterckx.
June 2024: PhD student Bart Nuytinck vertelt in een filmpje over zijn doctoraatsonderzoek in de reeks Kennismakers van het FWO-Vlaanderen
16 May 2024: Pop-up exhibition "Femmes & Formes. Ontwerptekeningen uit de Gentse kunstacademie, 1915-1955" in Vandenhove Atelier, Gent, door master students module "Vrouwelijke ontwerpers" o.l.v. Marjan Sterckx
25 apr. 2024: Studiedag Historisch Interieur en Design 2024 in het STAM in Gent. Programma en inschrijven hier.
19 Dec. 2023: public PhD Defense of Eline Stoop at Vandenhove Ghent: "Verf op rollen? De rol van behangpapier in het Belgische interbelluminterieur"
8 Dec. 2023: Lectures by Linda Hinners (Nationalmuseum Stockholm) & Eva Belgherbi (Université de Poitiers & Ecole du Louvre) & debate on "Women sculptors and the role of exhibitions in the long 19th century" in Vandenhove, Ghent
4 Conférences « Nouvelles perspectives en histoire de l’art » organised by our new postdoc-researcher Apolline Malevez at the Royal Academy of Belgium in Brussels, with a session on "Le long dix-neuvième siècle au prisme du genre" by herself and Fauve Bougard on 23 Nov. 2023
CFP Conference “Peinture d’histoire, peinture à histoires ? Procédés narratifs dans la peinture européenne du XIXe siècle” – 13-14 juin 2024 in Paris
1 July 2023: Opening of the exhibition 'Yvonne Serruys. Beeldhouwer van de nieuwe vrouw' in Menen (until 17 Dec. 2023) and launch of the book of the same title by Snoeck Publishers (also in French). With press attention, among others by VRT NWS and radio-interviews on Radio 1 & Klara.
Marjan Sterckx is awarded the Journal of Interior Design's Best Article award 2022 for her article ‘The interior as a witness. Interwar interiors in Flanders captured by forensic files'.
19 May 2022, 14-17h: Pop-up exhibition "Yvonne Serruys (1873-1953): Pensées, Peintures, Sculptures" in the atelier/ studio of VANDENHOVE, Gent, by master students in Art History for the research seminar "Kunst, Interieur en Design"
28 April 2022: jaarlijkse Studiedag Historisch Interieur & Design 2022 in Het Pand, Gent - programma hier
Nieuw boek van doctorandus Tom Packet (VUB, ThIS): Horta in Amerika. Tom geeft over de inhoud van het boek ook een webinar voor het Davidsfonds op 28/04/22 om 19u30.
do. 24 maart 2022: Lezing drs. Thomas Vandormael over Brusselse glasramen tijdens de belle époque i.h.k.v. BANAD festival
Voorjaar 2022: Lancering van LGBTQ+-rondleidingen in MSK Gent, met een flinke portie 19de-eeuwse kunst, voorbereid i.s.m. diverse ThIS-leden.
Jan. 2022: New book Male Bonds in Nineteenth-Century Art by ThIS members Thijs Dekeukeleire, Marjan Sterckx & Henk de Smaele is out now!
Fr. 26 Nov. 2021: Studiedag ‘Verzamelen, herwaarderen en schenken: Het belang van private kunstcollecties in België en Nederland, 19de eeuw tot vandaag’, 26 november 2021, Rubenianum, Antwerp, o.l.v. dr. Ulrike Müller
17 Nov. 2021: launch of REVERS. Belgian Fashion Research Network + Seminar I: Gender, at Aud. Vandenhove, Gent, contact@reversbelgianfashionresearch.org
9 Nov. 2021: Library Lunch lezing M. Sterckx: "Crime Scenes: van collectie naar expo", Universiteitsbibliotheek UGent
Oct. 2021: dr. Ulrike Müller obtains the Erik Duvergerprijs 2021 from the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten for her PhD research
27 Oct. 2021: Marjan Sterckx gives a lecture on Meunier & Minne at MSK, Ghent
15-16 Oct. 2021: co-organiser and participation of several ThIS-members in the international conference "Cultures of Belgian Space", Hingene
23 Sept. 2021: participation in the international conference "Women, design, heritage", Brussels, Museum voor Kunst & Geschiedenis, organ. Vlaams Architectuurinstituut (VAi)
20 May-10 July 2021: Expo CRIME SCENES. Interbelluminterieurs door de lens van de forensische fotografie in Vandenhove, Ghent & bijhorende catalogus
New book by ThIS-member Ulrike Müller out in May 2021: Thuis in een museum – Het verhaal van Henriëtte en Fritz Mayer van den Bergh
22 April 2021: Studiedag Historisch Interieur en Design dit jaar online (in te schrijven per sessie)
New book by ThIS-member Maude Bass-Krueger out now: Bass-Krueger, Maude, Hayley Edwards-Dujardin, and Sophie Kurkdjian, eds. 2021. “Fashion, Society, and the First World War : International Perspectives.” London: Bloomsbury.
March 2021: First ESNA Talk online by Thijs Dekeukeleire: Lambeaux and Alexandre: Movement in Belgian fin-de-siècle sculpture and photography
Oct. 2020: ThIS welcomes 4 new researchers (soon) starting their PhD research: Margot Missoorten (interwar kitchens in Belgium - BOF @ VUB & UG), Tom Packet (Horta & the United States - FWO @ VUB), Bart Nuytinck (domestic interiors in Belgium, 1850-1900 - FWO @ UGent & VUB), & Thomas Vandormael (came glass in belle epoque Brussels houses, @ VUB & UGent)
UGent, Art History/ ThIS, official partner in the Wiki's Women Design project of Vlaams Architectuurinstituut (VAi) i.s.m. Wikimedia Belgium
16-17 Oct. 2020: conference Cultures of Belgian Space (1850-1924) / Cultures de l'espace belge (1850-1924) @ Kasteel d’Ursel, Hingene - POSTPONED due to COVID-19. More info to follow.
New edited volume in the XIX-series of Brepols out now: M. Sterckx & Tom Verschaffel (eds.), Sculpting Abroad. Nationality and mobility of sculptors in the nineteenth century, XIX. Studies in 19th-century arts and visual culture, vol. 3 (Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2020).
9 July 2020: Anna Rademakers defends her PhD "Moederstad en vaderland. Nationale identiteit en lokale trots in de schilderswereld van het Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (1815-1839)" at Groningen University
14 April 2020: Thijs Dekeukeleire defends his PhD 'Men shaping man. The formative power of the male nude in fin-de-siècle Belgium'
13 March 2020: lecture 'Enduring masculinity' by Anthea Callen at Vandenhove, Gent - CANCELLED
28-02-2020 until 14-03-2020: Expo Strike a pose: 19th-century Academic Nudes in Ghent Collections at Vandenhove, Ghent (Opening: 27/02, 19.00)
31 Jan. 2020: ESNA Winter Seminar in The Hague, RKD: Eye-openers: ThIS-members among presenters & organisers
Master in de Kunstwetenschappen Marie Becuwe stelt op 8 dec. 2019 haar boek over 19de-eeuwse kunstenaarsherbergen in België voor.
Werkgroep XIX blaast 10 kaarsjes uit op 6 dec. 2019! En viert dat met een studiedag in Antwerpen.
Marjan Sterckx Laureaat van de Klasse Kunsten 2019 van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten
New ThIS-member Maude Bass-Krueger gives a lecture on "French Fashion, Women, and the First World War: the Practice of Exhibition Making at the Bard Graduate Center, New York" at Vandenhove, Gent, on 21 Nov. 2019, 19.00.
ThIS has a new, homemade logo! (c) Ann Verdonck
Marjan Sterckx gives the keynote lecture at a conference on Nordic women sculptors 1870–1940 in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.
Stefan Huygebaert obtains FWO postdoctoral grant and is nominated for the Vlaamse PhD Cup
Ulrike Müller defends her PhD Between public relevance and personal pleasure. Private art and antique collectors in Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent, ca. 1780-1914 on 4 July 2019, 16h.
Stefan Huygebaert defends his PhD Visual Ideals of Law and Justice: An Iconological Inquiry into Nineteenth-Century Belgian Legal Art on 17 May 2019, 17h.
16 mei 2019, Gent, Vandenhove: pop-up expo 'Locus delicti. Interbelluminterieurs in België door de lens van de forensische fotografie' i.h.k.v. het Onderzoeksseminarie: Kunst, Interieur en Design (MA Kunstwetenschappen, UGent)
jan. 2019: New book series XIX at Brepols Publishers on 19th-century art and visual culture launched. First volume on Ensor by H. Todts published.
jan. 2019: New assistant Malika M'rani Alaoui starts PhD research on the Belgian triennial Salons (1814-1914).
jan. 2019: Programma Studiedag Historisch Interieur en Design 2019 (2 mei 2019, Het Pand, Gent) beschikbaar
Wendy Wiertz defends her PhD thesis "Adellijk en artistiek. Amateurkunstenaressen met blauw bloed in België (1806-1914)" at KULeuven on 4 July 2018, 13h30.
Vlad Ionescu (UH but affiliated to ThIS) is awarded Laureaat Klasse Kunsten van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen & Kunsten (Dec. 2017)
Oct. 2017: New researcher Eline Stoop starts FWO-funded research on modernism and wallpaper in Belgium.
juni 2017: ThIS werd officieel erkend door het BOF als alliantieonderzoeksgroep UGent & VUB.

CFPs

CFP Cultures of Belgian Space/Cultures de l'espace belge (1850-1924), Hingene, Oct. 2020
CFP ESNA Conference 2020: Thinking in the Box. The Benefits of Artistic Tradition in the Nineteenth Century , The Hague, 14-15 May 2020
CFP ESNA Winter Seminar 2020 in The Hague: Eyeopeners
CFP Studiedag Historisch Interieur en Design 2020 (30/04/2020). Deadline voor voorstellen: 11 nov. 2019
CFP ESNA Conference 2019: ‘Frictions and friendships. Cultural encounters in the nineteenth century’
CFP Studiedag Historisch Interieur en Design 2019 gelanceerd! Deadline voor voorstellen: 11 nov. 2018
Call for participants Summer School Arts in Flanders: Belgian Fin-de-siècle (June 24 - July 4, 2018)
CFP voor de volgende Studiedag Historisch Interieur en Design (vr. 28/04/2018): deadline 11/11/2017
Conference Male Bonds in Nineteenth-Century Art, Ghent, 15-16 May 2018. CFP now launched
Conference Clay Matters. Thinking and exhibiting matter in recent art, Hasselt, 16-18 nov. 2017. CFP launched.
CFP ESNA Conference 2017: Food, glorious food: Food at the heart of nineteenth-century art, Antwerp, Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS), June 8-9, 2017
CFP Studiedag Historisch Interieur en Ontwerp 2017 (27 apr. 2017) online.

PAST activities (co-)organised by ThIS, or participated at by ThIS members:

Conference Frictions and friendships. Cultural encounters in the nineteenth century, 19-20 June 2019, The Hague, Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD). Programme and registration.
Pop-up tentoonstelling Locus delicti. Interbelluminterieurs in België door de lens van de forensische fotografie in Vandenhove, Gent (16 mei 2019)
Studiedag Historisch Interieur en Design 2019
ESNA Winter Seminar 2019: Game changers, 25 jan. 2019, Den Haag, RKD
Conference Male Bonds in 19th-century art, Ghent, 15-16 May 2018: program available and registration open: http://www.malebonds.ugent.be/ https://www.facebook.com/events/599483510426231/
Studiedag Historisch Interieur en Ontwerp 2018: programma en registratie: http://www.historischinterieurenontwerp.ugent.be/programma/
Conference GOTHIC MODERNISMS, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 29-30 June 2017: registration open
Renewed journal Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design has been launched on the Studiedag Historisch Interieur & Ontwerp in Ghent on 27 april 2017.
ESNA Conference 2017: Food, glorious food: Food at the heart of nineteenth-century art, June 8-9, 2017, Antwerp, Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS)
Causerie “A Tale of Two Cities: Rechtsiconologische vergelijking van de decoraties voor het Hof van Assisen van Antwerpen (1885-1893) en Brabant (1908-1914)" door Stefan Huygebaert, UGent, Instituut voor Rechtsgeschiedenis, vergaderzaal, 7 Maart 2017, 16u
Symposium "Ouvrir l’atelier. Un siècle d’ateliers d’artistes en Belgique (1830-1930)", 24 March 2017, Brussels (organ. ULB, i.s.m. UGent, ThIS)
Programme Studiedag Historisch Interieur en Ontwerp 2017 (Gent, 27 apr. 2017) online
Session "‘Re-sourcing’ material practices in the nineteenth-century urban interior in Belgium and France: new avenues and prospects" at the Conference "Domestic Space in France and Belgium: Art, Literature and Design (c.1850-1920)", Belfast, Queen's University, 16-17 sept. 2016.

About

The Inside Story: Art & Interior 1750-1950 (ThIS) investigates art as related to architecture and the interior, between c. 1750 and 1950. It is an interdisciplinary research team, initiated in 2016 by Marjan Sterckx, between Ghent University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, with members from the Art History and Architectural Engineering departments. ThIS considers the place and role of art within architecture and the interior, the history of interiors, and the decorative arts. Starting from artworks, material objects, visual and textual sources, and inspired by the challenges of present-day living and the possibilities of digital technologies, ThIS studies underexposed art and historic interiors with an eye for heritage policy and for gender issues.

ThIS focuses on Belgium in an international context, as there is still a great deal of research potential, and many artists, artworks and historic interiors from the period 1750-1950 are still underexposed and often vulnerable. Through knowledge and expertise exchange, impetus can be given to better protection and preservation of this heritage. Annually, ThIS organises a colloquium on historic interiors and design in Ghent (Studiedag Historisch Interieur en Design), bringing together heritage professionals and scholars from various disciplines and institutions. Regularly, ThIS also co-organized/s international conferences, a.o. in collaboration with the European Society of Nineteenth-Century Art (ESNA).

Keywords: art, architecture, interior design, historic interiors, design, applied arts, long 19th century, 18th century, interwar period, gender, space

ThIS focusses on the following topics:

Fine arts and/in historic interiors & architecture

Fine arts in/and architecture, e.g.: ornamental sculpture; monumental painting; monumental sculpture;...
Artists’ studios and homes, studio practices, actual living conditions, impact of the private on the public lives of artists
The (artistic) representation and material culture of historic interiors
The (aesthetic) presentation of art in the interior (public-private); art collections; art salons

Decorative arts & design, arts & the decorative

The (artistic/aesthetic) decoration of the interior
Sculpture, painting and the decorative; the decorative arts at exhibitions; art, craft and technology/industry;
Interiors, decorative arts, and gender;
Textile and fashion history; fashion & architecture

De onderzoeksgroep The Inside Story. Kunst & interieur 1750-1950, opgericht in 2016 door Marjan Sterckx, legt zich toe op het onderzoek naar de geschiedenis van kunst, interieurs en de interieurkunsten uit de periode ca. 1750 en 1950, en met name de rol en plaats van kunst in de context van het interieur en de architectuur, vaak vertrekkend vanuit het kunstobject. Het betreft een interdisciplinaire alliantieonderzoeksgroep die onderzoekers uit de UGent en de VUB groepeert, zowel van departementen Kunstwetenschappen als Ingenieurswetenschappen.

De klemtoon van het onderzoek ligt op België, weliswaar in internationale context, aangezien er nog veel waardevol doch onontgonnen onderzoekspotentieel is. Om het onderzoek naar kunst, interieur en architectuur ca. 1750-1950 in België te stimuleren, organiseert ThIS jaarlijks de Studiedag Historisch Interieur en Design in Gent. In het beleid rond onroerend erfgoed is het historisch interieur nog onderbelicht: vaak onbekend en ontoegankelijk en bijgevolg ook kwetsbaar. Door kennis- en expertise-uitwisseling kan een impuls worden gegeven aan een beter behoud van uitzonderlijke interieurs.

Researchers