"A Deeply Personal Collection" - Including Magritte, Picasso, Fontana, Moore and Chadwick

Why It Matters

It illustrates how dedicated private collectors can safeguard pivotal post‑war artworks, shaping cultural heritage and driving market interest beyond institutional settings.

Key Takeaways

• Vanterna couple collected art together for over 50 years
• Collection spans European and international post‑war movements, includes rare works
• Highlights include Max Ernst’s 1921 “Zuk” and Fontana’s 1962 “Conetti”
• Sculptures by Henry Moore and Barry Fagan integrate indoor and garden spaces
• Works reflect personal narratives, from grief to wartime anxieties

Summary

The video tours the Vanterna residence, showcasing a deeply personal art collection assembled by Rajier and Joseette Vanterna over five decades. Their home functions as a quasi‑museum, guiding visitors through rooms filled with works that span major post‑war movements.

The couple began collecting in the mid‑1950s, traveling to meet artists, dealers and galleries. Their holdings include Max Ernst’s rare 1921 oil “Zuk,” a surreal desert scene predating Surrealism, Lucio Fontana’s 1962 “Conetti” with ten rhythmic cuts, and early Kusama infinity nets from 1960, illustrating a broad European and international focus.

Highlights also feature a monumental Henry Moore “Goslar Warrior” sculpture placed in the garden, Barry Fagan’s humorous over‑life‑sized “Bowler,” Tracy Emmen’s 2016 grief‑laden painting, and Ron McGrit’s 1940 “La Plender” capturing wartime foreboding. The narrator emphasizes how each piece mirrors the collectors’ emotional journeys.

The collection underscores the vital role private patrons can play in preserving and contextualizing post‑war art, while their integrated display of paintings and sculptures blurs the line between domestic space and public exhibition, influencing market demand and scholarly attention.

Original Description

The collection of Roger and Josette Vanthournout is a reflection of two people’s passion to live with the objects that spoke to them.

The Belgian couple’s Flanders house became a gesamtkunstwerk — ‘a total work of art in which architecture, design and fine art existed in constant dialogue’. Within its walls were works by Magritte, Picasso, Kusama and Fontana, while the gardens displayed sculptures by Moore, Chadwick, Richier and Flanagan.

Roger Vanthournout was renowned for the notes he made and the photographs he took when he and his wife Josette visited art galleries, dealers or auction houses together. He would also ask questions, and sometimes even take measurements — all in the name of research and preparation for adding a particular work to their collection.

The Belgian couple’s considerations extended beyond just liking an item, to appraising where best it might be shown in the carefully curated display of pieces at their home.

Lovingly and diligently put together over six decades, the Vanthournouts’ collection offers a rich overview of the course of modern and contemporary art. It covers a range of movements, styles and media — painting and sculpture most notably, but also works on paper and photography, spanning more than 100 years of artistic creation.

Highlights include works by the likes of René Magritte, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst and Henry Moore, as well as Yayoi Kusama, Bruce Nauman, Thomas Schütte and Tracey Emin.

The collection is being offered by Christie’s across a trio of dedicated auctions, collectively titled Modern Visionaries — The Roger and Josette Vanthournout Collection: an Evening Sale on 5 March 2026, a Day Sale on 6 March — both in London — and an Online Sale running from 25 February to 12 March.

‘Each acquisition Roger and Josette made was a reflection of their shared vision and values,’ says Olivier Camu, Christie’s deputy chairman, Impressionist and Modern Art. ‘Their collection was built on curiosity and a passion for art, and shaped by a sense of discovery and thoughtful decision-making.’

Find out more about Modern Visionaries - The Roger and Josette Vanthournout Collection here:

https://www.christies.com/en/events/the-roger-and-josette-vanthournout-collection/what-is-on#auctions