The object in context
The Royal Museums’ 2016 selection identifies this work by Victor Servranckx: oil on canvas, inventory 6859, dated 1923. Its inventory number distinguishes the Brussels object from versions or reproductions elsewhere. The old list records a collection location in 2016, not a guarantee of display today.
Try this when you look
Identify three repeated shapes and give each a neutral name: disc, line or block. Trace how they lead your eye. Only afterwards compare this arrangement with the title’s reference to machinery. An abstract composition need not be a diagram of an identifiable machine.
Before you visit
Use the inventory number when checking the museum’s current collection information. Modern works in this selection were not all part of the same permanent gallery: five featured in a specific 2016 Patio presentation. Plan around confirmed display, not an archived room number.
- The object in context: The Royal Museums’ 2016 selection identifies this work by Victor Servranckx: oil on canvas, inventory 6859, dated 1923.
- Try this when you look: Identify three repeated shapes and give each a neutral name: disc, line or block.
- Before you visit: Use the inventory number when checking the museum’s current collection information.