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Lot Essay
In 1989 the Belgian Bank Bacob decided to extend it's interest in contemporary creation to include not just architecture but the visual arts as well. To assist them in this objective, they appointed the highly regarded art historian, critic and exhibition curator Bart Cassiman, as the Curator of the contemporary collection they intended to build. The collection would reflect the most contemporary forms of artistic endeavors. It would essentially concentrate on the major Western European artists, but would also include, when appropriate, a number of artists from the USA. The implied objectives were quality: major works from the selected artists' oeuvre. Continuity, once a work entered the collection it could not be resold and unity in its diversity: the collection was seen as a dialogue between the artists and different media.
By 2000, Bacob had acquired 110 works, that it intended to exhibit in a renovated building in Brussels, which would become known as a private Museum of Contemporary Art. Unfortunately, in 2003 the bank merged and policies changed. As a result it was necessary for a part of the collection to change hands.
Included in the collection were Belgian artists such as Jan Vercruysse, Lili Dujourie and Luc Tuymans. It also focused on artists such as Thomas Schütte, Juan Munoz, Jean Marc Bustamante, Franz West, James Welling, Stan Douglas and Bjarne Melgaard.
By 2000, Bacob had acquired 110 works, that it intended to exhibit in a renovated building in Brussels, which would become known as a private Museum of Contemporary Art. Unfortunately, in 2003 the bank merged and policies changed. As a result it was necessary for a part of the collection to change hands.
Included in the collection were Belgian artists such as Jan Vercruysse, Lili Dujourie and Luc Tuymans. It also focused on artists such as Thomas Schütte, Juan Munoz, Jean Marc Bustamante, Franz West, James Welling, Stan Douglas and Bjarne Melgaard.