Dexia opens its art collections to the general public
To make its cultural heritage accessible to as many people as possible – this is Dexia's aim via its Culture for everyone programme launched this month. The group possesses art collections of rare quality which have not really been accessible to the general public until today, although Dexia also has a long tradition of sponsorship of the arts and culture in Europe behind it.
from 07/05/2010
to 16/07/2010 |
Brussels:
Visit Dexia Art 2010 at the headquarters of Dexia Bank (Boulevard Pacheco 44, 1000 Brussels) every business day from 10am to 4pm.
Admission is free. |
| |
from 07/07/2010
to 27/07/2010 |
Avignon: Dexia has been the main sponsor of the Festival d'Avignon for over 25 years. This international event related to theater and contemporary art creation promotes the emergence of many talents. Dexia wishes to fully integrate this action in its ‘culture for all’ sponsorship programme. Therefore, the Ecole de la Citoyenneté, created by the Fondation Dexia France in 2007, will host one of its sessions on July 19-23 in heart of the Festival.
Website of the Festival d’Avignon: http://www.festival-avignon.com |
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3 questions put to
Pierre Mariani
Chief Executive Officer of Dexia
Where did the idea behind the Culture for everyone project come from?
Pierre Mariani : More than ever before, banks have to account to their clients and shareholders, as well as to citizens. This is what Dexia is doing, by gradually putting things right. It is also what we intend to do by sharing our cultural heritage with the general public.
What does it mean for the Dexia group?
Pierre Mariani : Dexia has now gone back to basics, concentrating on financing the private and collective needs of its clients, local authorities, businesses and private individuals. Our corporate sponsorship policy naturally
forms part of this transformation.
Concretely, what will the public be able to access?
Pierre Mariani : In Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy, collections will be opened and sculptures will be exhibited. And let’s not forget France, where a key work by James Ensor has been lent to the Musée d’Orsay for the retrospective on his work, and Turkey which
is developing cultural projects to benefit the visually impaired, for example.
Focus on
Willem Paerels, Portrait of Giroux
Dexia collection
The Portrait of Giroux
Contrast and purity of palette are the key words for this canvas painted at the beginning of the 20th century.
In the foreground, the collector and gallery-owner Georges Giroux sits in a flame-red armchair with the hint of a knowing smile.
The vibrant colour of the chair stands out from the clean lines of the décor in this bourgeois interior. The contrast of the red with the blue of the carpet and the night creeping through the window, its complementary colour, is striking.
The highly decorated interior, so rich in detail, is typical of canvases painted by Paerels around 1908 and 1909.
The boldness of the chromatic search highlights the links between the painter and the pictorial current of Fauvism. Paerels was indeed a member of the Belgian group known as the “Brabant Fauvists”.
The subject of the painting, Georges Giroux, a character in the artistic life of the Belle Époque in Belgium, was the first, in 1920, to organise a retrospective entirely dedicated to Ensor.
In 1912, paintings by Paerels were shown in the inaugural exhibition at the “Galerie Giroux”.
More about Willem Paerels
In 1894, at the age of sixteen, Willem Paerels left his native Delft for Brussels.
A self-taught artist, together with his friends Louis Thévenet and Fernand Schirren he founded the artists’ association Le Labeur, which introduced the colourful style of French Fauvism to Belgium.
He joined the circle of Auguste Oleffe and thus made contact with the Brabant Fauvists. After the First World War, his palette became more sombre and his form more artificial.
