Professor Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, Princeton University, Sculptors from the Low Countries: The Problem of Transnational History, 7 July 2002, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The Society was formally launched and the speaker introduced by HE Baron Willem Oswald Bentinck van Schoonheten, Royal Netherlands Ambassador and HE Baron Thierry de Gruben, Royal Belgian Ambassador to the Court of Saint-James’s.
The lecture was followed by a festive dinner at the Anglo-Belgian Club, Knightsbridge.
Guilhem Scherf, Musée du Louvre, Le voyage à Paris vers 1781 du sculpteur anversois Joseph Camberlain, 30 November 2002, at the Palace of the Royal Academy, Brussels.
The Society was formally launched and the speaker introduced by Mr Marc Villain, Cultural Counsellor of the French Embassy.
Other Lectures
Dr Léon Lock, University of Leuven, Abbeys in theLow Countries as Patrons of Sculpture, 3 July 2002, at the British Embassy, Brussels
Eymert-Jan Goossens, Director, Huis Doorn, on Artus Quellin en het Koninklijk Paleis te Amsterdam,22 November 2002, at the Rubenianum, Antwerpen
Prof Dr Frits Scholten, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam / Curator of Sculpture at the Rijksmuseum and Exhibition Curator, Introductory Lecture on Willem van Tetrode, 16 March 2003, at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam,followed by a visit of the exhibition Gespierd brons: Beelden van Willem van Tetrode
Dr Emile van Binnebeke, Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels, In bocca al lupo ! Nederlandse kunstenaars in Italië. Over reizen, opleiding, geloof en liefde, 5 October 2003, at and in collaboration with the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen
Andrew Naylor, Independent Sculpture Conservator, Common Sense Conservation: The example of the Waterloo Memorial at Evere, 10 October 2003, at the British Embassy, Brussels
Dr Paul Williamson FSA, Head of the Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics and Glass Department, Victoria and Albert Museum, Gothic sculpture and medieval craft practice, 29 October 2003, at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, London, followed by a reception kindly offered by the Belgian ambassador and his wife, HE Baron & Baroness Thierry de Gruben, at their residence
Prof Dr Jan Teeuwisse, Universiteit Leiden and director Museum Beelden aan Zee and Sculptuur Instituut, Wezelaar Statuaire,25 April 2004, and visit of his exhibition at the Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveningen
Catherine Van Herck, Conservatie en restauratie van beelden, 12 June 2004, and visit of her workshop, Antwerpen
Carlo Milano on Giusto Le Cort, a Fleming in Venice, 25 April 2005, at the Art Workers Guild, London
Dr Werner Adriaenssens, Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels, Philippe Wolfers et la sculpture chryséléphantine en Belgique,28 May 2005; this lecture was held in one of Brussels’ most important Art Nouveau houses
Pier Terwen, Indepent Conservator and Historian of Sculpture, Pier Pander (1864-1919) and the use of plaster in the making of his sculpures, from Rome to Leeuwarden, 4 July 2007, at Sir John Soane’s Museum, London
Lady (Aurelia) Young, on her father's portrait sculptureof kings and rulers: Oscar Nemon (1906-1985) between Belgium and England, 7 October 2008, at the Anglo-Belgian Club, London
Dr Arie Hartog, director of the Gerhard-Marcks-Museum, Bremen, The sculpture of Gerhard Marcks in international perspective, 14 March 2012, Club Falligan, Gent
Principal organiser of International Conferences, often in collaboration with universities and museums
1. Sculpture and devotion in the Niederrhein from the Middle Ages to the 17th century, Museum Schnütgen, Köln, organised jointly by the Museum Schnütgen and the Low Countries Sculpture Society, 22 September 2003, 40 participants from 4 countries.
2. Sculpted Portraits of Rulers and Royalty from Conrat Meit to Canova, The Wallace Collection, London, 2-3 July 2004, organised jointly by The Wallace Collection and The Low Countries Sculpture Society, 56 participants from 9 countries
3. Stucco and plaster sculpture in Europe in the 17th century : Inspiration, creation, production, reproduction, at the château de Modave, Belgium, 5-6 March 2005, organised jointly by the Musée du Château de Modave and The Low Countries Sculpture Society. 100 participants from 7 countries
4. Mechelen and early nineteenth-century sculpture : between tradition and innovation, at the Stedelijke Musea Mechelen, 10-11 March 2006, organised jointly by the Stedelijke Musea Mechelen, the Koninklijke Kring voor Oudheidkunde, Letteren en Kunst van Mechelen and The Low Countries Sculpture Society. 35 participants from 3 countries. Proceedings published in 2007
5. Renaissance Sculpture of the Low Countries from the Century of Jacques Du Broeucq (c.1505-1584), Mons, 7-10 March 2008, organised jointly by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the université de Liège, the Facultés universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix de Namur and the Low Countries Sculpture Society. Sponsors: city of Mons, province of Hainaut, Communauté française de Belgique, Région wallonne (via the Institut du Patrimoine wallon), université de Mons-Hainaut, Ecole d’Interprètes internationaux (UMH), Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen, Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), Cercle archéologique de Mons and Conservatoire royal de Mons. 115 participants from 11 countries. Proceedings to be published in 2014 by Brepols, Turnhout.
6. Seventeenth-Century Sculpture of the Low Countries, from Hendrick de Keyser to Jean Del Cour, Brussels, 13-15 March 2009, organised jointly by the Onderzoeksschool Kunstgeschiedenis of Utrecht University, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the Université Libre de Bruxelles, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the Université de Liège, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium and the Low Countries Sculpture Society. Sponsors : the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen, the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, the Royal Academy of Belgium and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. 72 participants from 8 countries. Proceedings to be published in 2014 by Brepols, Turnhout.
7. Carrara Marble and the Low Countries, Late Middle Ages – Today, Roma-Carrara, 5-8 June 2012, organised jointly by the Academia Belgica in Rome, the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome, the Nederlands Interuniversitair Kunsthistorisch Instituut, Firenze, the University of Leuven, the Université de Liège, the Université Libre de Bruxelles, the Universiteit Gent, the Royal Museums of Art and History, the Royal Museums of Fine-Arts of Belgium, the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage and the Low Countries Sculpture Society. Sponsors: the Belgian Embassy, Rome, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Rome, the Comune di Carrara, the Marchesa Maria Angiola Gropallo and Grégoire van Hissenhoven via the King Baudouin Foundation, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Carrara, Carrara, the Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels, the Academia Belgica, Roma, the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome, the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique-FNRS and the Low Countries Sculpture Society. 76 participants from 9 countries. Proceedings to be published in 2015 by Brepols, Turnhout.
Secondary organiser of International Conferences, in collaboration with museums
Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 December 2006, International Conference at Namur, on architecture and sculpture 1750-1850, “around Bayar / Le Roy”, coinciding with the current exhibitions. Organised by the Musée d’Art ancien du Namurois in collaboration with the association Pierres et Marbres de Wallonie and our Society
7-8 December 2009, International Conference at Namur, Stone-Paper-Chisels. Romanesque Architecture and Sculpture (Meuse-Scheldt region), coinciding with the current exhibitions. Organised by the Musée d’Art ancien du Namurois in collaboration with the association Pierres et Marbres de Wallonie and our Society
Organisation of Scholarly Study Trips
1. Sculpture in the triangle Brussels-Lier-Hasselt and in London, the Inaugural Tour of the Society, July 2002
2. Sculpture and devotion in the Niederrhein, September 2003
3. Discovering Hidden Historic Sculpture in Friesland and Groningen, May 2004
4. Genova ed i Fiamminghi : sculpture and painting in Genova, September 2005
5. Romanesque and gothic sculpture and painting in the Poitou and Berry, July 2006
6. Historic sculpture in public and semi-public collections in Dresden, September 2007
7. Baroque sculpture in Antwerpen, October 2008
8. Important and lesser-known historic sculpture in Berlin and Potsdam, with a seminar at the Bode-Museum led by the Director, Prof Dr Bernd Lindemann, September 2009
9. Renaissance to 19th-century sculpture in public and private collections in Madrid, El Escorial, Aranjuez and Valladolid, October 2010
10. Post-Tridentine sculpture in the Champagne and the Franche-Comté, September 2011
11. Sculpture in the galleries of Roman palaces and villas, c. 1500-1830, Rome, June 2012
12. Masterpieces of art and architecture in Belgium from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, August 2013
Publications
1. Conference proceedings Mechelen en de vroeg 19de-eeuwse beeldhouwkunst : tussen traditie en innovatie, Handelingen van de Koninklijke Kring voor Oudheidkunde, Letteren en Kunst van Mechelen, Raphaël de Smedt, Alain Jacobs and Léon Lock (ed.), 110/2, 2006
2. Conference proceedings Renaissance Sculpture of the Low Countries from the Century of Jacques Du Broeucq (c.1505-1584), Léon Lock, Dominique Allart and Krista De Jonge (ed.), Brepols, Turnhout, 2014, forthcoming
3. Conference proceedings Seventeenth-Century Sculpture of the Low Countries, Léon Lock, Arnout Balis and Frits Scholten (ed.), Brepols, Turnhout, 2014, forthcoming
4. Conference proceedings Carrara Marble and the Low Countries, Late Middle Ages – Today, Léon Lock and Emile van Binnebeke (ed.), Brepols, Turnhout, 2015, forthcoming
Exhibitions, generally in collaboration with museums or country houses
1. Pomp and propaganda : The stucco decoration at Modave and its engraved models, Musée du château de Modave, 5 March-29 May 2005
2. Welgevormd. Mechelse beeldhouwkunst in Europa 1780-1850[early nineteenth-century Mechelen sculpture], Stedelijke Musea, Mechelen, 18 February – 23 April 2006
Study visits
1. Discussion Tour at the château de Modave, seventeenth-century sculpture, stucco and architecture, 23 November 2002
2. Discussion Tour in Brussels of the exhibition Eclatants Eclats, Halles Saint-Géry, 30 November 2002
3. Discussion Tour in Brussels,The dawn of neo-classicism in sculpture, decoration and architecture, 1 December 2002
4. Study visits in the Namurois on the theme of Belgian red and black marbles and their extraction, visiting marble quarries and ending the day at the Musée du Marbre, Rance, led by geologist Dr Francis Tourneur, 11 October 2003
5. Study Visit of the Rothschild Collection, Waddesdon Manor, The National Trust, on the theme of European sculpture, sculptural ornament and their design, led by curator Dr Ulrich Leben, 26 October 2003
6. Study visitin Brussels led by Andrew Naylor on conservation work in progress on the Waterloo Memorial, Cimetière de Bruxelles at Evere, Brussels, 10 October 2004
7. Study visit at Maarssen of the exhibition Beeldhouwkunst in ander perspectief at Pygmalion Beeldende Kunst, 11 December 2004
8. Study visits of the country houses of Marchin, Waleffe and Longchamps, 6 March 2005
9. Study day in Oxford on Sculpture and Drawings in College Collections,includingAll Souls College's Codrington Library, Worcester College Library, Queen's College Chapel, Trinity College Chapel and University College (Shelley Memorial), 26 April 2005
10. Study day in Breda at the Grote Kerk (newly conserved tomb monuments of the 16th century), the 16th-century castle of the Nassau (open by special permission, as now in use as barracks) and the Breda's Museum, to see some original terracotta fragments from the castle, 11 June 2005
11. Study visits in the Namurois on the theme of Belgian coloured marbles and their extraction, visiting marble quarries, the abbey of Floreffe and ending the day at the Musée du Marbre, Rance, led by geologist Dr Francis Tourneur, 10 June 2006
12. Study Day at Anglesey Abbey (The National Trust), Cambridge, led by Alastair Laing, Head of the Paintings and Sculpture collections of the National Trust, 23 September 2006
13. Study Day at Trinity College Library, Cambridge, and Burghley House, Stamford, 24 September 2006
14. Study Day at the royal palace of Het Loo, Apeldoorn, led by Wies Erkelens, curator of sculpture, 22 October 2006
15. Visit of the Victoria and Albert Museum's sculpture conservation workshops and the future Renaissance Gallery, 4 December 2006
16. Study day at Liège to view the main parts of the otherwise inaccessible Palais des Princes-Evêques and other buildings, principally of the 18th century, 12 May 2007
17. Study day at the churches of Wouw, Zundert and Bergen-op-Zoom, 26 May 2007
18. Study day at Liège, on the theme of Jean Del Cour (1631-1707) and baroque sculpture and sculptors' drawings, 17 November 2007
19. Study day in the Hainaut on Renaissance sculpture, including the castle of Boussu and the Capuchin chapel at Enghien, 10 March 2008
20. Study afternoon in Antwerpen, to visit the conservation workshops of the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten, Hogeschool Antwerpen, led by Carolien van der Star and Charles Indekeu, 19 March 2008
21. Study day at Den Haag: Grote Kerk with its tomb monuments, the Vredespaleis looking especially at the recently conserved sculpture, led by Pier Terwen, and the Museum Beelden aan Zee, led by curator Dick van Broeckhuizen, 26 September 2008
22. Study visit of the French Bronzes exhibition, Musée du Louvre, Paris, led by the exhibition curator Geneviève Bresc-Bautier, 17 January 2009
23. Study day on marbles in Southern Belgium, led by geologist Dr Francis Tourneur, 11 March 2009
24. Study day at Utrecht and surroundings, visiting the castle of Sypesteyn, led by the curator, and the cathedral of Utrecht, 26 November 2009
25. Study day at Tournai, on the theme of Romanesque architecture and sculpture, led by the architectural historian attached to the Cathedral, 9 December 2009
26. Study Day at Antwerpen, visiting the former Royal Palace on the Meir (built as the Hotel van Susteren in 1755) and the gothic Keizerskapel with its baroque sculpture, both led by those involved in their recent restoration, 26 September 2010
27. Study Day at Huis Doorn, Sculpture collected by the German Kaiser and decoration of his last residence, led by the house’s director, 30 October 2010
28. Study Day in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, exhibition L’Antiquité rêvée, innovations et résistances au XVIIIe siècle, led by Guilhem Scherf, co-curator of the exhibition, 4 February 2011
29. Study Day at Freiburg im Breisgau, visit of the Johann Christian Wenzinger Exhibition in the Augustinermuseum, the Wenzinger Haus, the Cathedral and its tower in restoration, Schloss Ebnet, St Peter im Schwarzwald (chapel, library, reception room) led by Dr Saskia Durian-Ress, retired director of the Augustinermuseum, 4 March 2011
30. Study Day at Cassel (Nord-Pas de Calais), visit of the Netherlandish terracottas exhibition, 22 January 2012
31. Study Day in London, visit of the sculpture in the Houses of Parliament, led by Lady (Aurelia) Young, 2 July 2012
32. Study Day at Baya and Liège, about 18th-20th century stucco and plaster, 23 October 2012
33. Study Day at Zuurbemde and Zoutleeuw, about the conservation-restoration of Renaissance micro-architecture, 18 November 2012
34. Study Day at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, on the occasion of the Houghton Rediscovered exhibition, bringing back treasures from the Hermitage and other collections, sold to Catherine the Great, 18 June 2013
