Inside the exhibition. De inrichting en decoratie van het driejaarlijkse salon van Brussel in de 19de eeuw

This article presents an attempt to reconstruct the interiors of the triennial salons in Brussels, based on various archival sources, visual material and contemporary reviews. These triennial salons, which were organised alternately in Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent, were important and well-attended events aimed at promoting contemporary art and cultural life in Belgium. The Brussels salon did not have its own exhibition space and was thus organised in different locations during the nineteenth century: on various occasions this included a temporary building constructed specially for the exhibition. The most important requirements for the location were sufficient space and adequate natural light. The furnishing and decoration of the salon were kept quite sober as the artworks themselves were the main decoration. Yet attention was also paid to the overall design: the colours used for the walls, the route, the furniture and the decor. There are also clear similarities between the design of the Brussels salon and that of exhibitions abroad, especially with regard to the colours used for the walls. The triennial salon in Brussels continued tobe organised into the early twentieth century and hardly changed in its design