ING Art Center
Mont des Arts/Place Royale 6,
B-1000 Brussels
Belgium
Open: only when there is an exhibition
Open daily, except on Monday, from 10h – 18h
Late night opening until 21h on Wednesdays
Launch year:
Started as a private collection in 1960s and evoluated in a corporate collection in 1987.
Number of artworks:
The collection counts approximatively 2500 works.
Status of collection:
International
Artistic domain:
The ING Belgium collection was initiated as a private collection at the start of the 1960s, and was assembled with great ardour by the art enthusiast Léon Lambert, President of Banque Bruxelles Lambert until 1987. Today's collection is the result of the bank's new international dimension following a merger, but it is also proof of a passion for, a belief in and a commitment to contemporary art.
Since the bank has been collecting for some time now, it has acquired works that represent major artists of the late 20th century such as Gilbert & George, Georg Baselitz, Markus Lüpertz, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Giuseppe Penone, Tony Cragg, Richard Deacon, Antony Gormley, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, Christian Boltanski, Dan Graham,….,.
With an eye for authentic talent and the diversity of contemporary trends, the collection was expanded to include the work of "einzelgängers" such as Michel François, Mona Hatoum, Sandra Vasquez della Hora, Jessica Backhaus, Elly Strik,….
Among recent acquisitions some belgian artists such as Pieter Vermeersch, Valérie Mannaerts, Pieterjan Ginckels, Ann Veronica Janssens, Helmut Stallaerts,.....
Commission program / Site-specific order(s) :
Always in keeping with the times as well as its architectural surroundings, the collection has evolved alongside the staff of the bank, with which it is now intrinsically linked. This is a link that enriches the bank's human capital, and in order to strengthen that link, Art Management has called upon French artist and Brussels resident Pierre Bismuth (b. 1963) to design the presentation of the collection. This results in the project Coll/nnection.
Coll/nnection (2014) is a unique interactive project between the ING Belgium Collection and the bank's employees, each of whom has an opportunity to connect with one of the 2500 works of art in the collection. By being linked to an employee, the work of art becomes a social and dynamic element. It reveals the way art lives and evolves through the individual’s experience.
Launch year:
ING Belgium SA is part of ING Group since 1998. Previously known as BBL, the Banque Bruxelles Lambert was the result of a former merger in 1975 : Banque de Bruxelles (founded in 1871) and Banque Lambert (founded by the Lambert family, around 1830).
International presence:
Through the group: 40 countries
Annual revenue:
3 182 million €
Number of employees:
8550
Profile of the company:
Banking and financial services.