Collection ym

Edouard Fiers was born in Ypres in 1822. In the 19th century, he became one of the most popular artists in Ypres. Unlike his colleagues Auguste Böhm and Louis Delbeke, Fiers resolutely chose sculpture as his medium. Our collection includes several sculptures by Fiers, including this beautiful bust, a self-portrait of the artist.

Every three years, the Cat Parade takes place in Ypres. It is a fixture in Ypres. Naturally, traces of the Cat Parade can also be found in our museum collection. We highlight one of them: the painting “Kattefeeste in Ieper” (Cat Festival in Ypres) by Albert Castelain from 1978.

The City Museum opened in 1929 in the Vleeshuis. One room was set up as a Chinese room with a portrait of the Chinese president in the centre. The porcelain on display was purchased with a donation from Xu Shichang, the president of the Republic of China.

At an auction in Brussels, the curator gets his hands on a rare watercolour by Charles Degroux (1825-1870). It's a colour design for a mural in the Cloth Hall. A special addition to the city of Ypres and the Ypres Museum.

The Yper Museum purchased several works especially for the exhibition POES. How cats catch humans. One of these is this mezzotint entitled “The Cat Concert” by Wallerant Vaillant from the second half of the 17th century.

In the autumn of 2021, the restoration company Metafose was commissioned by the city of Ypres to restore the weather vane, belfry dragon Margriet and adopted daughter of the Ypres Museum. The Ypres Museum asked this company from Edegem to check a local “urban legend”: is there a message in the dragon's belly or not?

In 1494, German author Sebastian Brant published Das Narrenschiff (The Ship of Fools). In the book, fools, also known as idiots or imbeciles, travel to Narragonia, a paradise for fools. One by one, they end up in foolish, ridiculous situations, demonstrating how not to behave.

Ce n'est ni la première ni la dernière fois - Ypres 1281,
Anna Reutinger, 2024, aquarelle sur papier coton

One of the absolute masterpieces in the Ypres Museum collection is the memorial scene by Yolente Belle. The Belle family home occupies an important place in this panel with its fascinating history.

On the first Saturday in August, the annual procession for Our Lady of Tuine passes through Ypres once again. With this procession of thanksgiving, the people of Ypres have been honouring their patron saint, Our Lady of Tuine, for centuries.

We are ending 2018 with a magnificent acquisition! It is the painting “Een gelofte onder de druïdeneik” (A vow under the druid oak). It goes without saying that we will give this beautiful work a place in the Ypres Museum next year. Louis Delbeke was a well-known nineteenth-century artist who created the pre-war (and at the time famous) murals in the Cloth Hall.

Louise De Hem (1866-1922) caused a sensation at the end of the 19th century with her beautiful portraits and pastels. She built a professional and international career, which was not easy for a woman at that time. The name Louise De Hem later disappeared into the folds of history, the fate of many female artists. Thanks to the bequest of her sister Hélène, the Yper Museum owns the largest public collection of De Hems' works.