PEANUT BUTTER!
What contemporary works do you have?
Leen: We have pieces by Sarah De Vos and Studio Borgerstein, among others. In our living room, there is a large canvas by Wouter Steel, a Leuven artist. It is a photo-realistic work that depicts a man being smeared with peanut butter by two beautiful girls (laughs). It has the enigmatic title ‘Eventually, he always knew this day would come’. Sounds weird, but it’s a very beautiful, very present work.’’
‘‘My husband was very impressed at a vernissage of Wouter. So I went to visit his studio myself, together with the children. There were over a hundred works, but I only had eyes for this one. Very intuitive. The children wondered what it was, but they found it interesting.
‘‘We have one rule when we buy something: David and I both have to find it beautiful or interesting. So David went and had a look – without me telling him which work appealed to me. It turned out to be love at first sight for him too. The canvas now hangs very prominently in our living room.
Wouter turned out to be the son of an enthusiastic art history teacher with whom I had done my work placement during my teacher training. David has also had lessons from her. Strange how such things sometimes come together.
POETIC
What do you think about older art?
Leen: The work we love the most is a very small 17th-century painting. There are three figures in it, full-length. There are a lot of gaps, where you can only see the wood of the panel. In the past, such damage was repainted by another artist. In the current restoration practice, we no longer do that. David could, of course, restore the work, but we have left it like that. We find it very poetic; you can see the ravages of time.
What do you look for when you buy a work?
Leen: There is no clear line, we buy very much on feeling. You might think that we pay attention to technical aspects – my husband restores, so he knows how materials and works can evolve and degrade over the years. But we’re not into that at all.’’
‘‘We do hope that the children will have a connection with the art they see at home. We would hate it if they sold the works when we were gone. But: they have to develop their own visual literacy, of course.’’
