Report from 1980. Belgium’s 150th anniversary was also celebrated in the United States, thanks to a series of events called “Belgium To-day”. An opportunity for Americans to become aware of the industrial and artistic vitality of our country. Jean Antoine and Ludo Bekkers investigated the artistic exchanges that could take place after the war between Belgium and the United States. They realized that, from the American side, Magritte was and still is a god for a large number of artists. On the Belgian side, on the other hand, it is rather a city: New York which has been and often remains the pole of attraction. Painters and sculptors from Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders travel to New York as one traveled to Italy. They come back fully enlightened (like Folon) or more Flemish than before (like Landuyt and Veranneman). They bring back a woman (like Bury) or a taste for “pin-ups” (like Mara). They teach there (like Jan Cox) or discover their technique there (like Alechinsky). They laugh gently (like Picha) or are moved by it (like Guy Pellaert). They find there a springboard to go to the moon (like Van Hoeydonck) or stay there for life (like Xavier de Callatay). To say that New York never leaves them indifferent is an understatement: New York is under their skin. On the beautiful images of Renier Doutrelepont, the captivating song of Lisa Minelli and a nervous montage of Ludo Verbruggen, Jean Antoine invites you to share the New York fantasies of our greatest artists.
