The (painters')villa

During the 19th century many landscape artists were enchanted by the unspoilt nature of picturesque Genk. The grandeur and the isolation that eminated from the natural surroundings was a motive for painters and writers to move to the village that was not easily accessible.

The evidence of this special history can still be seen various artists' villas near the Molenvijver Park.

Artist Armand Maclot had his villa 'La maison blanche' built in Molenstraat 80 in 1910. His story about his arrival in Genk: 'In March 1899 I arrived on the local train from Hasselt. From the station I spotted the 'Molenweier', which lay there openly, with its dry reeds in the sand dunes and the heath. That bound me to Genk forever. I was determined to paint this pond'.

Besides the former Maclot villa, artist Ernest Deprez built his 'Villa Les sapins' (Molenstraat 82), as a holiday home.

The first 'artiste-peintre' who settled permanently in Genk was Emile Van Doren. Apart from Genk's artistic attraction, there was also an amorous reason, because Van Doren fell in love with the inn's landlady. They married a few years later and they developed the inn into the Hôtel des Artistes: a luxury hotel which met the requirements of the French-speaking bourgeoisie.

Van Doren's villa 'Le coin Perdu' (1913), Henri Decleenestraat 21, was donated to the city of Genk in 1955 by the painter's daughter. On 22 September 1976 the villa was inaugurated as a museum, where the story of Emile van Doren and the various generations of landscape artists who settled in Genk were given a home.

Apart from the various artists, several villas were built by the (mostly) French speaking rich citizens from Antwerp, Brussels and Liège. The most famous example is probably the, now demolished, villa of writer Neel Doff, better know in Genk as 'villa Keetje Tippel'. The villas were all given French names, like Les Roseaux and Les Houx.

A walk past these villas takes you back in time to the village of Genk of around 1900, where artists took over the heath during the summer months and rich tourists in their wake, looked for peace and quiet and came to 'unstress'.

You can order a brochure with the walking route along the buildings that are witness to Genk's travelling history, from the culture department. This walk is also incuded in the publication 'Steengoed. Forty surprising heritage walks in Flanders' (Kris Naudts - 2008) published by the Davidsfonds.