Oil on cardboard – 8 x 8 inch – Unique work

When an old building meets an old building, what do they say to each other? Well, stories of old buildings, of course! And all these stories begin a thousand years ago, without overdoing, none.

The building with its antique red shutters still giggles anecdotes from yesteryear. Occupants from long ago, with a comfortable personal fortune, artists, well who dreamed of being so but who drowned, alternately, in alcohol and debauchery. They wrote a few lines quite quickly, then celebrated the event in the most absolute excess. Their books were never published, well, did any of them ever manage to finish their work? The mystery remains. But if the walls could express themselves, they would relate facts that cannot be written here.

The building with its old rose-coloured facade conceals, in its delicately cut stones, other secrets. A shop on the ground floor sold all sorts of rare and expensive items. The Dutch from all the provinces of the country came to stock up there. And if the building dared, it would even push the celebrity of the place to the borders of Europe. And why not the whole world. Precious and obsolete objects, overpriced antiques, rarities almost impossible to unearth elsewhere than here, this little piece of sidewalk by the water. So many treasures that change lives over several generations, which make this place a unique one, envied by all the buildings around, some without history, it happens sometimes.

The natural sienna-coloured building has had a completely different adventure. Several generations of architects who have invented, reinvented, experimented with all kinds of spaces and structures over the years. They had this chance to perpetuate the skill, the inspiration, the vision. Becoming pioneers was not necessarily easy. And yet, despite disease, wars, famine, misery, death, jealousy, despair, there was always buried in each of them health, peace, abundance, ease, life, generosity, hope. They drew on their least resources again and again to bring the best of themselves to this earth. Today we would call this resilience.

When an old building meets an old building, what do they say to each other? Well, stories of old buildings, of course! And all these stories begin a thousand years ago, without overdoing, none.