Portrait of Albert Blyau

A remarkable acquisition

The Ypres Museum has acquired a particularly beautiful and interesting work of art. It is a bronze portrait of none other than Albert Blyau (1872-1946). Thanks to this man, we still know countless old Ypres lace songs today. He travelled around Ypres and the surrounding area and drew “counts” or “tally marks” of lace makers. In the Ypres Museum, the Ypres lace schools and “spellewerksters” songs - saved by Albert Blyau - are given a lot of attention! A section of Blyau and Tasseel's 1902 publication is on display and you can listen to modern renditions of these folk songs. Read more.

Albert Blyau (1872-1946)

Albert Blyau, doctor of Germanic philology, was a teacher at the College of Ypres from 1895 to 1896. There he began his search for old folk songs. Together with musician Marcel Tasseel, a member of the Ypres art circle De Vlaamse Ster, he travelled around Ypres and the surrounding area to record old songs from lace makers. This yielded a wealth of unknown lyrics and melodies. Many of these sometimes very ambiguous songs were “counting songs”, in which the mention of a number in each verse reminded the lace maker to move pins on her pillow.

Ieper old songbook

In 1902, their “Iepersch oud-liedboek” (Ieper old songbook) was published by J. Vuylsteke in Ghent. Blyau moved to Tienen in 1908. Nevertheless, the songs of Ypres would never leave him.

In 1922, a second edition was published, containing fifteen songs. He continued to give recitals on this theme throughout the country. This included Ypres, for example on 9 April 1928 in Lapiere's Zaal in the d'Hondtstraat, and even Nice in 1935. His only daughter Paula, a talented sculptor, ensured that her father's research was finally published in its entirety in 1962, 16 years after his death.

Important acquisition for the Ypres Museum

Until now, we only knew of one portrait by Albert Blyau: the reproduction of a beautiful bronze portrait bust in half-relief, depicted in the 1962 book.

Now, it is precisely this sculpture that the Ypres Museum has been given. It was made in 1931 by Paula Blyau and measures 44 x 31 cm. It was her daughter Hilde Alleweireldt-Cuvelier who decided to donate this portrait to the Ypres Museum. Her brother Ferdinand had already donated the manuscript and several editions of their grandfather's Iepersch Oud-Liedboek (Ypres Old Songbook), which means that the museum now has a very beautiful collection.