Posters and placards in the museum collection
(18th – 20th century)

February 20 to April 4 2010

Even though digital advertising has partly come in its place, a poster still is an important way of advertising. This exhibition investigates the impact of posters in earlier times, when they were the only means of spreading information. However dazzling present-day computer designed flyers and posters may be, this exhibition takes us to the very heart and soul of the old printing craft, when printers did not only work hard typesetting their products, but also tried to make them as attractive as possible. Along with the development of new printing procedures, the first tentative attempts with simple illustrations evolved into highly artistic designs by real artists.

Hardly anybody knows that The Society for History and the Arts of Deinze has a collection of over 700 posters and placards, which they have left in the care of the Museum van Deinze en de Leiestreek. Their fragile state and negative climatic effects do not allow frequent exhibition. It is the first time in 20 years that the general public will get the chance to admire a fair selection. Because of the great variety, the exhibition will not focus on one theme, but it will give an historic survey, from early 18th century examples to remarkable 19th and 20th century pieces.

On Wednesday March 17 from 2.00 to 4.30 pm children are invited to join a creative workshop in the museum and be inspired by the world of advertising. Registering is possible by mail (museum@deinze.be) or by phone (09 381 96 70).

Exhibition 150 years Municipal Academy of Fine Arts

April 24 to June 13 2010

Looking further and going through or is it the other way round, going further, looking through? The exhibition does it all in collecting artists, who were either taught at SASK Deinze or taught there themselves or both, but who went on from there, who looked further, and who went further, in some cases to be taken literally to mean far beyond our country borders. But at the same time the work of each of these artists invites us to look further. Work that needs looking further or sometimes even looking through, work that offers more than what is to be seen at first sight.

Artists: Armand Blondeel, Jean-Marie Bytebier, Ingrid Castelein, Leo Copers, Antoon De Clercq, Raoul De Keyser, Agnes Maes, Hubert Malfait, Roger Raveel, Albert Saverys and Jan Van Oost.

A children’s workshop is organized on Wednesday May 12. While walking through the exhibition, children will learn to look further through… and will be stimulated to get going further in a creative way.

April 25 2010

This year’s Heritage Day theme “Fake?” has led the museum to organize two activities:

Your work of art examined for valuation?

Have you been asking yourself for some time what artist painted the picture in the hall or in the attic? Is a signature difficult to read or do you doubt the authenticity of a work? It may well be of art-historical value and we may well be able to situate the work in the artist’s oeuvre. On Heritage Day you can bring along a work of art for a free expert examination and valuation.

Workshop “Copying a work of art yourself?”

The museum appeals to local artists to produce a work of art after a painting in the museum collection. Dare you accept the challenge to either produce a perfect copy or paint your own interpretation? Visitors in their turn witness live how a painting is made.

On Heritage Day both the permanent museum collection and the exhibition “Looking / Further / Going / Through. 150 Years Municipal Academy for Fine Arts” can be visited free from 10 am to 6 pm.

June 26 to September 5 2010

Yves Beaumont (° Ostend 1970)

In his drawings and paintings, Beaumont always starts from the reality of a landscape and he never fails to refer to it in his work. The artist does not shy away from this rather classical genre at all and – like Mondriaan and Spilliaert who also approach landscape as a pictorial given – he admits to be looking for a “plastic translation of the landscape element”. In a succession of examining, exploring, painting, singling out, painting over, adding and accentuating he succeeds in transforming the landscape until he has reached a subtle balance between the reality as experienced through the senses and his own representation. The process of creation is as important for the artist as is the result.

“The entire creative process of painting as such is so intense that, repeatedly, it gains the upper hand in a pendulum like motion and in doing so, assimilates to a great extent the figurative and concrete elements of memory, washing over them, covering them pictorially, and transcending all concrete references”. H. Brutin

Yves Beaumont was taught at the Ghent academy by Karel Dierickx and Jean Bilquin (1989-1993). At an early stage his work was picked up by galleries for modern art. In 1995 he had a solo exhibition in The Museum of Fine Arts in Ostend, followed by exhibitions at home and abroad.

The exhibition in the Museum van Deinze en de Leiestreek offers a survey of the landscape paintings which Beaumont has produced tirelessly for more than 15 years.

Kathleen Huys (° Ghent 1965)

Kathleen Huys studied monumental painting at Sint-Lucas Hogeschool Ghent and took classes with Juul Claeys at the Academy of Fine Arts in Deinze. She lives and works in rural Meigem-Deinze. In 2008 her entry for the Canvas Collection really thrilled the jury and she was the second laureate in the competition.

Kathleen Huys’ often small-size paintings demand concentration and reflection. Some parts, which at first sight are experienced as being abstract, soon appear to contain a deeper figurative layer, without which the work cannot be read. The artist shows us the layers she thinks are interesting and her works are rather subtly transparent, despite making the impression of being vague or unfinished. Recurrent themes in her works are the relation between man and animal, strength, power and freedom. Often she is inspired by photographs, which she took herself or which she came across by chance. Faces are made unrecognizable, without an identity, but are extremely telling. This intimate exhibition also shows a series of portraits that really confront the spectator, and a selection of works in which the artist partly removes the blanket of secrecy.

September 12 2010

Open Monument Day Flanders aims at introducing the general public to our architectural heritage by offering free entry to monuments on this day. This year’s theme, the four natural elements – water, fire, earth and air – has triggered a lot of initiatives in our region. The Museum van Deinze en de Leiestreek opens its doors free of charge, as its Arts and Archaeology Collections offer many interesting links with the theme.

September 25 to November 28 2010

Exhibition surveying the artists who in the course of the last 29 years have been the subject of large-scale retrospectives. A selection was made from the works of artists who in their art showed a close kinship with the Leie region: Xavier De Cock, Albijn Van den Abeele, Valerius de Saedeleer, Gustave van de Woestyne, Albert Servaes, Emile Claus, Jenny Montigny, Anna De Weert, Maurice Sys, Modest Huys, Gust De Smet, Frits Van den Berghe, Leon De Smet, Hubert Malfait en Albert Saverys.

All of them were for some time at least enraptured by the light of the river and by the simple unruffled way of life in the surrounding villages. They all contributed in their own way to the fame of the region at home and abroad.

On Wednesday October 20 there is a children’s workshop, inspired by the work of these artists, who were all influenced by the light of the river Leie.

November 18 2010

Late Night on Thursday evening in cooperation with the Municipal Academy of Music, Drama and Dance. The Late Night features a free introductory guided tour. The museum will be open till 9.00 pm.