From July 13, 2025 to January 4, 2026, the Peiremuzee in Knokke-Heist presents ‘Lines of Inspiration. Luc Peire & Mu.ZEE viewed by Edouard Vermeulen’, a special exhibition curated by the internationally renowned designer from fashion house Natan. Edouard Vermeulen, with his background in interior architecture, brings a personal selection from the collection of the Peiremuzee, which resonates with his own aesthetic universe. The result is a refined interplay of art, fashion and architecture.
The works of Luc Peire (and a 50/50 selection from both the Peiremuzee and the collection of Mu.ZEE) are central and seamlessly connect to Vermeulen’s aesthetic. Other iconic Belgian artists, including Raoul De Keyser and Luc Tuymans, are also included. The exhibition is further enriched with some of Vermeulen’s own sculptural fashion designs, which bridge the gap between fashion and art.
Behind a modern terraced house facade clad with dark grey tiles in the middle of De Judestraat in Knokke hides a true treasure chamber of art. The Peiremuzee, which has been under Mu.Zee Ostend since last year, captures in an intimate setting the essence of Belgian modernism. In addition to fascinating temporary exhibitions and lectures, the museum offers visitors a glimpse of the permanent collection of works by Bruges artist Luc Peire (1916-1994), his studio, and private bungalow.
The sun weaves her golden rays through the crown of a stately pine and conjures a sparkling play of light on the quiet, square courtyard. We stand in the middle of the garden of the Peiremuzee, a setting that seems to have been plucked straight from the South of France. “In the 1960s, Peire settled in Paris,” says art historian Anne-Marie Kinds. “But his heart has always remained in Knokke. During the summer he loved to stay in the holiday home he built with his wife Jenny Verbruggen, where the museum is now housed. In the late 1940s he decided, right next to his studio that he had built in 1946, to build a simple bungalow for holidays, which from 1960 to 1965 he expanded further. Just like his studio, the house was deliberately designed and furnished with very simple materials and furniture.” The atmosphere is so authentic that it seems as if the artist could walk in at any moment.
Abstract verticalist
Luc Peire is known as a master of abstract verticalism, a style he developed from his early expressionist works, strongly influenced by his great example Permeke. This influence can be seen everywhere. His wooden sculpture work ‘Mon Père’ (1939) is neatly placed in his studio next to De Kar (1936) by Permeke. Peire translates this form of expressionism with dark, somber, landscapes and deformed personages. After his training at the academies of Bruges, Ghent, and Antwerp, and under the influence of his teacher Gustave Van de Woestijne, his work evolves from swarming to abstract studies. “His travels were very crucial,” says Knots. “After Italy he draws to Sicily where he admires the fresco ceilings by Giotto and Piero della Francesca. Not that Peire paints frescoes, but from then on, especially after his trips to Spain (where he is impressed by the Moorish architecture), his composition becomes more and more vertical and colorful. He begins his journeys with Spain (Mallorca) and Morocco (Meknès, Mogador, Fès, Rabat).
That is reflected in his work: he paints more southern landscapes and people. Yellow is a color that often returns with him. Later, after continued journeys in his own era. The many detours to Greece and Belgian Congo (where he stays for a while) and the Canary Islands. His paintings in Congo are now and then visible in the museum but more often in private collections. In Congo he is mainly interested in the local population and their customs. The most remarkable evolution is in the evolution of the figure. Peire makes use of the vertical as a symbol for the spiritual elevation of man. Is this reduction not also a protest against the dehumanizing violence of the twentieth century? A clear answer is not given, but it is a human figure. Through a very personal iconographic reduction of the human figure, his style becomes increasingly stricter, more heroic, and more symbolic and a dominant vertical line as spiritual imagination of man is placed in a very expanding space.” In the collection of the Peiremuzee, this evolution is clearly visible.
New impulse
Thanks to the dedication of Marc Peire, nephew of Luc and son of Marcel, the museum remains alive today. After the death of Luc Peire in 1994, the Jenny en Luc Peire Foundation was established by Marc and he took care of the management of the collection. In 2024, part of the collection will be transferred to Mu.Zee in Ostend, so that the Peiremuzee receives a new impulse. “To answer the growing demand from art historians and the general public to get to know the collection better, the Peiremuzee will organize monthly lectures that delve deeper into various art themes.”
“During the last lecture evening, art historian Dominique Savellkou, former director of Mu.Zee and the current director of Tafel, spoke about the value of art, the role of art collections and the dynamics of art collectors,” says Kinds. In the temporary exhibition ‘Recht(lijn)ig’ which runs until June 1st, part of the private collection of art collector Roland De Brock is also on display, a friend of Peire and an enthusiastic supporter of the dissemination of his work, adds Kinds.
Temporary exhibition or not. “Due to the abundance of works in Peiremuzee,” says the general director of Mu.ZEE, Permekemuseum and the Peiremuzee (since 1 November also under the general management of Bruno Verbergt, who recently succeeded Philippe Van Cauteren), “you get a good idea of the many artistic facets that someone is and his museum can really show,” says Kinds. With well-known works such as ‘Sol’ (1958) – ‘Limonsol’ (1968) – ‘Aton’ (1981) and ‘Lacazoul’ (1972) they are also inviting art lovers from outside to visit, but the museum has never forgotten its roots. The museum is still located in the parental home where Peire lived after the death of his father and where Jenny also had her studio after Knokke.
Peiremuseum, De Judestraat 64, 8300 Knokke-Heist, www.peiremuseum.be
