A Home for the Vandenhove collection: From Architect’s Dwelling to Exhibition Pavilion

When

24 September 2026 to 30 January 2027

Where

Rozier 1, 9000 Gent

Opening hours

Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 2:00pm to 6:00pm
Closed 11-12 November and 24 December – 6 January

In 2012, the Liège based architect and art collector Charles Vandenhove (1927-2019) donated his collection of about two hundred works  of modern art, together with a building, the so-called ‘Vandenhove Pavilion’, to Ghent University. The collection includes works by famous artists such as Pierre Alechinsky, Nan Goldin, Asger Jorn, Anselm Kiefer, Pierre Soulages, Luc Tuymans, and Andy Warhol among many others. Several artists collaborated with Vandenhove in his capacity as an architect: Daniel Buren, Olivier Debré, Sol LeWitt, Giulio Paolini, Niele Toroni, Marthe Wéry, Léon Wuidar, et cetera.

From September 2026 to January 2027, the Vandenhove Center organizes an exhibition dedicated to its collection, which is exceptionally taking place on both floors of the Pavilion.

In particular, the exhibition explores the tension between the domestic interior and the “white cube” of the museum. It takes place in a museum-like setting designed by Vandenhove but features artworks that were part of the architect-collector’s daily living and working environment. Occasionally, the display references the idiosyncratic display of the artworks in Vandenhove’s studio dwellings.

In addition, works were selected and grouped based on their associations with specific domestic elements or spaces such as living quarters and bed rooms, office and studio, attic and basement, paneling and curtains.

An online collection catalog will be published accompanying this exhibition. 

This exhibition also marks the start of a series of events in Ghent, Liège, and Brussels that highlight the architectural works of Charles Vandenhove, who would have turned 100 in 2027.

Curators: Students of the Research Seminar Modern Art in the Master program Art History, Musicology and Theater Studies at Ghent University, under supervision of Steven Jacobs
Scenography: Lisa Janssens (Department of Architecture & Urban Planning)