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| Fondation Folon | |
|---|---|
| Name | Fondation Folon |
| Established | 2000 |
| Location | "La Hulpe, Walloon Brabant, Belgium" |
| Type | "Art museum" |
| Founder | "Jean-Michel Folon" |
| Collection size | "Works by Jean-Michel Folon, prints, sculptures" |
Fondation Folon is a museum dedicated to the work of Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon, located in the park of the Domaine Solvay near La Hulpe in Walloon Brabant, Belgium. The foundation preserves paintings, watercolors, lithographs, etchings, sculptures and illustrations by Folon and stages rotating exhibitions, educational activities and public programs. It occupies a restored historic estate that links visual art, landscape design and conservation in the Flemish and Walloon cultural region.
The foundation was created to honor Jean-Michel Folon, a multidisciplinary artist associated with movements and figures such as Surrealism, Pop Art, Saul Steinberg, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Marc Chagall and whose career intersected with magazines and institutions including The New Yorker, Le Monde, The Guardian, BBC, United Nations and UNICEF. The site in the Domaine Solvay connects to families and institutions like Ernest Solvay, Solvay (company), La Hulpe, Walloon Brabant and municipal authorities of Belgium. The foundation’s provenance involves conservation practices referenced by organizations such as the Council of Europe, ICOM, UNESCO, European Commission and national heritage registers exemplified by Flemish Region and Wallonia. Early supporters and collaborators included collectors, galleries and foundations linked to names like Galerie Maeght, Taschen, Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Centre Pompidou, Musée d'Orsay and Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. Major loans and cataloging projects involved curators and scholars connected with Yves Bonnefoy, Jean Clair, Robert Delpire, Pierre Bergé and art historians affiliated with Université libre de Bruxelles, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Université catholique de Louvain.
The permanent collection centers on works by Jean-Michel Folon and features prints, illustrations, watercolors, paintings and sculptures tied to publications and institutions like Esquire, Time (magazine), Paris Match, Sotheby's, Christie's, Royal Academy of Arts, Tate Modern, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art. Exhibitions have juxtaposed Folon’s imagery with artists and movements such as René Magritte, Joan Miró, Jean Dubuffet, Niki de Saint Phalle, Yayoi Kusama, Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Ellsworth Kelly and Alexander Calder. Curatorial projects have referenced specific works, commissions and publications including collaborations with Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Roman Polanski, Alain Resnais, Tom Wolfe and Jean-Paul Sartre. The foundation loans to and borrows from institutions like Fondation Cartier, Musée Picasso, Villa Medici, Palazzo Grassi, Haus der Kunst, Kunsthaus Zürich, National Gallery of Art, Getty Museum, Rijksmuseum and Louvre Museum. Special exhibitions relate to themes connected to illustrators and graphic artists such as Milton Glaser, Saul Bass, Edward Gorey, Quentin Blake and Mœbius.
The foundation occupies a historic estate within the Domaine Solvay, a landscape shaped by figures and designers linked to parks and estates such as Capability Brown, André Le Nôtre, Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Isabella Stewart Gardner, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Villa d'Este and Villa Borghese. The restoration and adaptive reuse projects involved conservation architects and firms associated with precedents like I. M. Pei, Renzo Piano, Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Santiago Calatrava and Tadao Ando. Grounds management references practices visible at sites such as Kew Gardens, Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, Versailles, Schonbrunn Palace and Hampton Court Palace. Sculptural installations and outdoor works evoke public art programs seen at Sculpture by the Sea, Serpentine Galleries, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Storm King Art Center and Dia Beacon.
Educational initiatives align with partnerships and methodologies used by institutions like Musée national d'art moderne, Victoria and Albert Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Brooklyn Museum, Centre Pompidou-Metz, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Royal Academy of Arts Education, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Conservatoire de Paris, Institut du Monde Arabe and universities including Università di Bologna, University of Oxford and Harvard University. Workshops, guided tours and school programs reference pedagogical models from Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Steiner school and museum education programs used by Tate Liverpool, MoMA PS1 and Pérez Art Museum Miami. Outreach has included collaborations with charities and NGOs such as UNICEF, Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières, Red Cross, Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco and local community organizations in Brussels, Charleroi and Namur.
The foundation’s visitor services follow standards used by museums and cultural sites like Centre Pompidou, Musée du Louvre, British Museum, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Uffizi Gallery, Prado Museum, Hermitage Museum, National Gallery (London), Vatican Museums and Museo Reina Sofía. Practical information covers tickets, hours, guided tours, accessibility, group visits and amenities with comparisons to visitor services at Eurostar, SNCB/NMBS, Brussels Airport, Liège Airport, Tourism Flanders and Visit Brussels. The site appears in cultural itineraries alongside Waterloo Battlefield, Atomium, Grand Place, Brussels, Royal Palace of Brussels, Laeken Royal Greenhouses and Basilica of Koekelberg.
Governance structures echo models used by foundations and trusts associated with names like Fondation Beyeler, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Fondation Cartier, Fondation Maeght, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Prince Claus Fund, European Cultural Foundation and Wallonie-Bruxelles International. Funding sources include endowments, public subsidies, private donors, corporate sponsors and ticket revenues similar to arrangements seen with Société Générale, BNP Paribas Fortis, Solvay, KBC Group, ING Group and AB InBev. Advisory boards and trustees have engaged experts from institutions such as Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Université libre de Bruxelles, University of Antwerp, Museums Association (UK), Association des Musées de Wallonie and cultural ministries of the Kingdom of Belgium.
Category:Museums in Belgium Category:Art museums and galleries in Belgium