The Collection
Engravings, Portfolios and Artists' Books 

Francis De Bolle,  Coup d'foudre, (Love at first sight), woodcut, 1987 ©artiste	Kenneth Alfred, The Burning Head (1 out of a set of 8 plates), etching, aquatint and dry point, 1988 ©artiste	Jacques Richez, draft project of the poster for the show "Bataille / Bataille” (Battle / Battle) by Franz Marijnen, staged at the Noord Nederlands Toneel in Groningen (Netherlands), 1982 ©artiste	Moebius Masque rouge, (Rode Masker), zeefdruk, 1992. © artiste

The collection consists of more than 6.000 engravings of contemporary artists, Belgian and international. It also consists of a “valuable reserve” of some 150 portfolios and 400 first proofs (separate and limited editions having some kind of genuine character and mostly signed by the artist) and of more than 2.000 artists' books and compilations.

The collection comes from a variety of sources. There are works purchased by the Ministry of Culture, by the city council of La Louvière, and by the Centre de la Gravure itself; there are also major donations or bequests from artists and patrons.

It is essentially a contemporary collection: most of the pieces are recent, dating from 1970 onwards. A few older works bring a historical perspective to this highly contemporary ensemble.

Up to now, rather than having just one section of its graphic archive permanently on display, the Centre de la Gravure has chosen instead to regularly exhibit works chosen from the collection in accordance with the various thematic or technical exhibitions.

In this way each exhibition also gives us the opportunity to highlight particular pieces from our reserve.

Upload the artists' collection listing (in French) :  "Liste des artistes présents dans la collection en 2009" Pdf ( 35 Ko )