Striving to make known the Belgian artists of the post-war period, sometimes forgotten, who deserve to be (re-)discovered to appear alongside their best-known peers

We asked a few questions to Maurice Verbaet, Director of Maurice Verbaet Gallery in Brussels, and first-time exhibitor of the Main Section in 2021: professional background, gallery programming, participation in the fair and flagship work exhibited this year are in the spotlight in this interview.

The gallery and its programme

Maurice Verbaet Gallery is mainly dedicated to post-war Belgian art. It strives to make known the Belgian artists of the post-war period, sometimes forgotten, who deserve to be (re-)discovered to appear alongside their best-known peers. Under the direction of Maurice Verbaet, a team of professionals takes care of the preservation, conservation, research and enhancement of the collection. Its collection includes thousands of major pieces by various Belgian artists. Representative of the Glorious Thirties, a period between 1945 and 1975 during which Belgian art flourished, it is the largest of its kind. A handful of carefully chosen more recent works form the perfect complement to this predominantly post-war collection.

Learning without following an imposed school model but training indirectly and without appearing to do so, proved to be a means corresponding perfectly to the aspirations of Maurice Verbaet. On the one hand, this attitude responds to his impatient nature, reluctant to follow established rules, and on the other hand, it led him to associate with people who were out of the ordinary (Source: Camille Brasseur, Maurice Verbaet collection, Selena Editions / Passion for Collectors, 2016).

Your participation in the fair

We are a young gallery and have chosen Luxembourg Art Week for its good reputation. We hope to have a great experience there and meet other amateurs and collectors than our faithful who visit us regularly in our gallery in Knokke, so as to make the artists we defend better known.

Artists shown at the fair

We have carefully selected a few artists who are very representative of our programming. These are some great names in post-war Belgian art, such as Jo Delahaut, father of geometric abstraction in Belgium. Or Antoine Mortier, one of the major and emblematic figures of lyrical abstraction. Other big names such as Paul Van Hoeydonck and Jan Fabre will also be present. And then some artists such as Jan Burssens, Etienne Van Doorslaer, Joseph Ongenae, Renée Demeester, Francis Olin, as well as two other contemporary artists: Lukasz Kurzatkowski and Manu vb Tintoré. (+ biographies)

Flagship work on your booth