Behind the doors of an M-art patron: the collection of Hilde and Erik

BEHIND THE DOORS OF AN M-ART PATRON

The collection of Hilde and Erik

Art is the first thing you notice when you enter the home of Hilde Vervloet and Erik Boone. There are works standing and hanging in the living room, the dining room, the corridor and even outside in the garden. Over the past few years, Hilde and Erik have with love built up a beautiful collection. A portrait of two art lovers who, not coincidentally, are also M-art patrons.

Coup de foudre

Where does your interest in art come from?

Erik: "That has developed slowly. Hilde in particular has always been fascinated by art but we did not use to have much time for it. We were both busy with family and work, I am an independent banker, Hilde was until recently head of a language school in Brussels."

"We always wanted art on our walls. So about 10 years ago, we joined 'Art at Home', an art library system. They did have some interesting things but it was never quiet our thing. That is why we slowly started buying art."

Hilde: "Our preference is for ﬁgurative works, we are less keen on conceptual art. We usually buy from galleries, in Leuven or elsewhere. We always pop into a gallery when we are abroad."

Erik: "When we buy a work, we both have to have a wow feeling about it, it has to be a coup de foudre, love at first sight. If I am not immediately convinced, Hilde will get me over the line (laughs)."

"We made our first purchase at the IJzerenberg sculpture triennial in Herent. There we came across 'The Visionary', a sculpture by Lieven d'Haese. It depicts a medium holding a glass ball in his outstretched arms. We both loved that and we decided to buy it, that was in 2012. At first, the children didn't like it: 'Surely you're not going to have that in the house!' But with time, they have come to appreciate it. One of our daughters even created a piece of work on Lieven d'Haese for her aesthetics class."

"Via the galleries, we sometimes get in touch with the artists themselves, and that is always inspiring. There is a story behind each work of art and that is how we get to hear those stories first-hand. When you buy a work, you also feel that the artist appreciates it. There is of course an financial side to it but it is also simply great that someone appreciates what you have made."

Hilde: "We have one of those works with a story in the dining room: 'Begegnung', by the German sculptor Franz Josef Vanck. He started with a blue stone that had broken in two during processing at the stonemason's shop. A stone like then has no commercial value, but Vanck has created a beautiful composition with it, with tenuous bronze ﬁgures between the fracture lines. He installed the work here personally: it was important to him that it was fitted to the wall in the right way, with the correct distance between the two parts, and he did not want to leave that to anyone else."

"See here, this is our latest purchase: 'Sibyl II', a tapestry by Stephanie Baechler, a Swiss artist. It is made of many kinds of textiles, and textile is also in a sense the theme of the work. It depicts the story of the Fates. In ancient mythology, they spin your life thread and in the end also cut it. We have another, smaller work too by Baechler, 'Bronzamic I, II, III'. For this, she made a mould from three pieces of fabric and then cast them in bronze. The result looks like textile, but is in fact metal. Very intriguing."

Body talk

Hilde: "If I had to pick one favourite, it would be 'She's not a modern type' - a work by Anton Cotteleer, a Belgian artist. It is a bronze figurine in which you might recognise a naked woman with her lower body painted in a kind of skin colour. It immediately appealed to me when I saw it, and it still does. If a fire ever broke out here, I would first save the children, my husband and the dog first and then the Cotteleer (laughs)."

Erik: "I have two favourites. 'The Visionary' - that medium by Lieven d'Haese - and 'Milles-feuilles', a painting by Hadassah Emmerich. We found that one at The Whitehouse Gallery in Lovenjoel. We go there a lot and really enjoy it, we have bought several works there. As soon as you entered the shop it was there, and we just couldn't get past it, that's how strong we found it. The children were with us, and they too were immediately charmed. The work is from the exhibition 'Body Talk' and if you look closely, you will recognise women's breasts in it. The colours in particular are really gorgeous. Before we bought it, we did have to take some measurements at home as it is quite big. Now it hangs prominently in the living room, so we see it every day. By the way, there is another work by Hadassah Emmerich in the corridor."

Downsizing

Erik: "When we started buying art, the children were still teenagers. Many at that age are often a bit dismissive of art, but they have now become fans. When they graduated, we gave them each a gift of a work of art that they could choose for themselves. They have in fact already secretly divided our works between the two of them, if we ever end up somewhere smaller where we would not have enough space (laughs)."

Hilde: "If we buy anything new now, we first need to find a place for it in the house. We don’t want to add any more works down here. We like to keep it sober, so that each work of art comes into its own."

Erik: "There is only one thing that counts for us: do we enjoy looking at it? We sometimes hear from gallerists or other collectors: 'You should buy this or that artist now - soon they will become priceless!' But that is not how we think. Even though we may have lost a lot of money that way (laughs)."

Hilde: "We just want to be able to enjoy art every day. Living with it."

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