Art Déco and Modernism at Val Saint-Lambert (1925–1939) — Musée des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi

Between the wars the Val Saint-Lambert crystal works stopped repeating the nineteenth century. The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi has given that decision an exhibition of its own: Art Déco et modernisme au Val Saint-Lambert (1925–1939), one of four shows marking the two hundredth anniversary of the Belgian crystal works founded at Seraing in 1826.

The fifteen years the exhibition covers are the ones in which the company’s designers moved from ornament to geometry — the same shift that was happening in architecture and furniture across Europe, arriving in a factory that had to translate it into blown and cut glass. Around 160 pieces and archival documents, drawn from public and private collections, occupy 400 square metres of the museum. The exhibition is organised by Charleroi’s Musée du Verre, whose glass collection is one of the reference holdings for the period.

The other bicentenary exhibitions are at Seraing (Cristal Vivant, at the Musée du Val Saint-Lambert), at the Grand Curtius in Liège (Japonisme et Art nouveau) and at the Design Museum Brussels (Val Saint-Lambert & Design, on the years after 1958).

Practical details

• When: 18 April – 27 September 2026
• Where: Musée des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi, Boulevard Mayence 67, 6000 Charleroi, Belgium
• Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday 9am–5pm; Saturday and Sunday 10am–6pm
• Admission: free on the first Sunday of each month; other prices on the museum’s site

Full details are on the Charleroi Museum website. Cultural Heritage Online lists this exhibition for readers planning a visit to Charleroi; admission is handled directly by the museum.