Artwork Collection

With a wealth of over 7000 works of art, dating from the end of the 19st century to the present time, and including paintings to videos and performance, as well as installations and tapestries and a large archive collection, the Hainaut Province Collection is stored at the BPS22. Today it is open to artists from Hainaut as well as national and international artists, although the core of the collection is comprised of artists who have a connection to the Province. In order to avoid scattered purchases in Belgium or internationally that would damage the internal coherence of the collection, areas of interest have been defined as follows: art in Hainaut, Surrealism and the relationship between art and different forms of power. These three areas are based on an examination of the relationship between art and the societies which produce it.

From this perspective, it is important to note that the Hainaut Province collection is conceived as a coherent whole rather than a succession of individual representations. The works themselves interact, respond to each other, and mutually examine one another, creating multiple networks of meaning between them. This is the function of the structured areas of the collection, now extended to the different prisms of analytical theory presented by the BPS22 in its exhibitions. These theories throw a unique light on the collection and suggest new readings of the work each time. Among others, they include 'A Small History of Art' by B.Gaudichon, 'Forgotten Line' by M.Partouche, 'Secret History of the 20th Century' by G.Marcus and 'Another Art History' by Le Bon and C.Grenier.

Complementary to the Hainaut Province Collection, the BPS22 has developed its own collection, notably through the acquisition of numerous documents on punk visual art in Belgium. This gave a new perspective to the historic wealth of Surrealism or the Situationist International. The BPS22 has also received significant donations which have enriched its available collections.

Names cited: Art & Language, Gabriel Belgeonne, Hans Bellmer, Marcel Berlanger, Alain Bornain, Marcel Broodthaers, Antoine Bourlard, Pol Bury, Anto Carte, François Curlet, Edith Dekyndt, Jeremy Deller, Wim Delvoye, Wang Du, Eric Duyckaerts, Patrick Everaert, mounir fatmi, Michel Frère, Kendell Geers, Liam Gillick, Martha Grunenwald, Bénédicte Henderick, Jacques Lizène, René Magritte, Marcel Mariën, Xavier Mary, Constantin Meunier, Johan Muyle, Pierre Paulus, Cindy Sherman, Boris Thiébaut, Banks Violette, Andy Warhol, etc.

For more info, visit our website about the collection (in French) : collection.bps22.be/fr/