The Dutch collector Maurice van Valen has donated 26 works to the Van Abbemuseum. These include 17 works by Johan Lennarts (Eindhoven, 1932 – 1991), 5 works by JCJ Vanderheyden, who died last year (’s- Hertogenbosch, 1928 – 2012), and 4 works by Pieter Laurens Mol (Breda, 1946). The museum already has several works by these artists in its collection and has exhibited them in various groups and solo exhibitions since the 1960s.
Johan Lennarts, Untitled (Fence), 1960-1969. Foto Peter Cox
From 8 June to 15 September 2013 a selection will be exhibited in two rooms on the ground floor of the new building of the museum, in combination with other works by these artists in the Van Abbe collection.
Maurice van Valen(1971) comes from Eindhoven but has lived for a long time in New York, Los Angeles and London. As a collector he is interested in the relationship between the regional and the international, between the identity of a particular place and current globalisation. For the Van Abbemuseum he selected works from his collection which express this in a very special way. The works reveal a specific way of looking, working and thinking which Van Valen sees as being related to the Brabant background of the artists. Van Valen sees a special task for himself as a collector: “Private collectors can and must make a significant and lasting contribution to supporting museums. They can help to build up and develop the collections. My move to Eindhoven is the reason to contact the Van Abbemuseum. With the donation I want to underline my commitment to my birthplace and the artistic climate in this region.” Van Valen had already made donations to the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam, the Museum of Modern Art in Arnhem, the Noordbrabants Museum in ’s- Hertogenbosch and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. www.vanabbemuseum.nl