MFJ Gallery

MFJ-Gallery located at 18 Rue Allard Sablon in Brussels, has decided to defend, exhibit and sell orientalist works painted by Belgian artists. Orientalism, truly born at the beginning of the 19th century, aroused an extraordinary enthusiasm throughout Europe throughout this century. However, the advent of the “new painting”, Impressionism, in France during the last quarter of the century signaled the end of this passion for Orientalism in France. This antagonism between Impressionism and academic painting most often used to “render” Orientalism also existed in Belgium, most often fueled by the Circles (L’Essor or the XX) or artists with strong personalities. However, the attraction to Orientalism in Belgium persisted beyond the temporal hinge between the 19th and 20th centuries. The consequence of this state of affairs is a great diversity of styles for the works that we present, some very academic and others more modern, happily resorting to impressionism and even neo- and post-impressionism.