POP ART: From Warhol to Panamarenko

In 2019, the Flemish Community acquired Great American Nude #45 (1963) by Tom Wesselmann from the Matthys-Colle Collection. The purchase was coupled with the long-term loan of 39 other artworks from the same collection to the museum. This event marked the starting point of a unique and important public-private partnership in Belgium, from which this exhibition POP ART stems. Representative works of pop art from the Matthys-Colle Collection by Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, Roy Lichtenstein, Konrad Klapheck and others are brought together with a selection from the S.M.A.K. collection.

Pop art originated in London and New York in the 1950s and was initially a Western phenomenon. As a visual response to the unprecedented consumerism of the 1960s, its imagery was borrowed from the mass media world of advertising, magazines, television and film. The accessible style quickly captured the imagination of many young European artists and they too embraced the movement.

Pop art penetrated deeply into everyday life and gave rise to images so distinct and recognisable that their presence can still be felt today. The issues that formed a rich breeding ground for the pop art artists are as blisteringly topical as ever: from mass consumption and technological progress to sexual morality, race riots and gender equality. Not only do the themes remain recognisable to this very day, but pop art also remains an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the fashion, design and broader entertainment industries.

The Collection Matthys-Cole
The collection of Roger and Hilda Matthys-Colle is one of the most important private collections of post-war art in Belgium. The collection contains important works by world-famous artists including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Cy Twombly. Many of the art movements from the second half of the 20th century that are recognised as being of importance today are present in this collection. Movements such as Cobra, Pop Art, Nouveau Réalisme, Arte Povera, Conceptual Art and Minimal Art are all well represented with one or more works. The provenance of the artworks shows how the couple passionately set out in search of innovative artistic practices. 

The collection is, moreover, the private achievement of an important advocate of contemporary art in our country. Indeed, Matthys was one of the founders of the Association for the Museum of Contemporary Art (V.M.H.K.) in 1957. At the time, the V.M.H.K. strove for the public legitimacy of contemporary art and purchased works of art with a view to establishing an autonomous museum for contemporary art. As a member of this association, Matthys sat on the advisory committee of the Ghent Museum of Fine Arts since 1964, where he advocated the acquisition of works by living (inter)national artists. Under his chairmanship of the V.M.H.K. (1974–1979), the Museum of Contemporary Art (MHK), now S.M.A.K., was finally established in 1975.

The publication POP ART: From Warhol to Panamarenko is available in the S.M.A.K.-bookshop. It contains a range of related texts by Philippe Van Cauteren (artistic director S.M.A.K.), Iris Paschalidis (head of Collection S.M.A.K.), Liesje Vandenbroeck (assistant curator S.M.A.K.) and Marthy Locht (art historian) and a full survey of the artworks.