Maurice Verbaet Center

Maurice and Caroline Verbaet started collecting art together in 1989. In the 1970’s Maurice was already a passionate buyer. Together, they decided to focus primarily on 20th-century Belgian art.  At that time modern Belgian artists were undervalued on the domestic market, while many of them had had a remarkable international career. Passionate about his collection and a true collector, Verbaet spent his time visiting auction houses and galleries specialized in modern art. From his travels, he brought back works of unknown, forgotten artists, or scorned today

Originally, the extensive Verbaet collection included 20th-century artists, from the 1920s to the 1970s. But the collectors then chose to sell off the pre World War II works to finance the project aimed at raising the value of Belgian artists from the 1950s to the 1970s. In 2015 Caroline & Maurice decided to open the Maurice Verbaet Center, a space covering 1,500 m2 on the ground floor of an iconic building in Antwerp, the former headquarters of the Antwerpse Water Werken (WAW) water company, inaugurated in 1965. “Connexions One. Belgian Art 1945-1975”, the inaugural exhibition, showed works by Bury, Delahaut, Mortier, Tapta, Axelle, Vandercam, Willequet and many others. Belgian talents who all made a name for themselves internationally.