A number of new works have been added to enrich our public collections in recent months. Thanks to the King Baudouin Foundation’s Heritage Fund and a number of Patrons’ Funds, the future of these important works of our heritage has been assured.
49 boules de même couleur sur un plan incliné mais surélevé, Pol Bury
During the 2020 BRAFA art fair, the Charles Vreeken Fund acquired a major kinetic sculpture made by Pol Bury, exhibited at the L Museum in Louvain-la-Neuve. With its Surrealist inspiration, the sculpture defies the onlooker’s common sense, as the balls that compose the work climb up the incline.
Victor Horta Art Nouveau tripod table
The Charles Vreeken Fund has acquired an Art Nouveau three-legged occasional table in bronze and fossilised wood, created at the start of the 20th century. Designed by the architect Victor Horta for the conservatory of his own house in Ixelles (Brussels), the table has now been returned to its original home, which is now the Horta Museum.
Panel of decorative ceramic tiles, made by Boch Frères
A panel of ceramic squares from the early 20th century has also been preserved for future generations thanks to the Heritage Fund. Made by the Boch Frères Keramis workshops, this is an important acquisition, because of its beautiful quality as well as its size. It will be entrusted to the Keramis Ceramics Centre of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, which has been created on the former site of the Boch porcelain factory in La Louvière.
A fan in mother-of-pearl and point de gaze lace
This fan, acquired by the Christian Bauwens Fund, is made in point de gaze lace, a very precious technique of needle-point lace-making developed in Brussels in the 19th century. Dating from around 1880, the fan belonged to Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, and will be entrusted to the MoMu in Antwerp, once the museum is re-opened after restoration.
An E-major barytone saxophone by Adolphe Sax
The oldest listed and conserved of Adolphe Sax’s saxophones, dating from 1846, has been acquired by the Léon Courtin-Marcelle Bouché Fund. The saxophone will be exhibited at the Brussels Musical Instruments Museum, which has one of the most important collections of instruments made by Adolphe Sax.