more about Louise De Hem

The Louise De Hem Collection

The reopening of the municipal museums in Ypres after the First World War

On 19 November 2022, the Yper Museum will open its new temporary exhibition in the Royal Hall of the Cloth Hall. With “Louise/Edith. Carried on hands”, this exhibition tells the story and showcases the work of Ypres artist Louise De Hem. Contemporary artist Edith Dekyndt will act as Artist in Residence. Louise De Hem's collection is not only one of the largest collections by a single artist that we manage in Ypres, it is also at the origin of the current municipal museums.

Destruction of WWI collection

It probably comes as no surprise to read that WWI not only reduced the city to rubble, but also destroyed a large part of its cultural heritage. The collection of the Municipal Museum, housed on the top floor of the Vleeshuis, was almost completely destroyed. Only the pieces that hung in the town hall, including the station portraits, survived the violence of war. Today, they are part of the collection of the Ypres Museum. The collections of the almshouses and the Mergehlynck Museum were (partially) saved. From May 1915 onwards, the Merghelynck collection could be admired in the exhibition of rescued art from the Belgian front region in the Salle flamande in the Petit Palais in Paris. After the war, these collections returned to Ypres, often via a detour.

View of the Vleeshuis, where the Municipal Museum was located on the first floor until World War I. E. Puttaert (illustrator) and Jean Malvaux (engraver), Musée et Halle aux viandes, circa 1879. (SM 001551)
Louise De Hem, Self-portrait, circa 1890. (SM 000309)

The first bequest

After the First World War, a new Municipal Museum for Ypres was not a priority. The city first had to be rebuilt. Without a collection, there was nothing to display. Moreover, the Vleeshuis, which housed the Municipal Museum before the First World War, was not rebuilt until 1927. On 14 January 1927, Hélène Ceriez-Dehem died. She was Louise De Hem's sister and her heir. Louise De Hem's husband, Fréderik Lebbe, only had the usufruct of the property. Since the death of her brother-in-law Théodore Ceriez, Louise De Hem had been responsible for her sister's upkeep. The inheritance must therefore be viewed in this light: by appointing her sister as heir, Louise De Hem ensured that her sister would not end up in poverty. Among these possessions are dozens of works and sketches by Louise De Hem.

When Hélène drew up her own will in 1926, she instructed the executor of the will, Florimond Lambin, to find a destination for Louise De Hem's artworks. She trusted Lambin to execute her will as she would have wished. He was therefore given complete control over Louise De Hem's works. In addition, two prizes were to be established: the Louise de Hem Prize and the Théodore Ceriez Prize. When Hélène died on 14 January 1927, the will came into effect. Lambin ensured that 49 paintings and pastels by Louise De Hem were sent to her birthplace, Ypres. He kept some of them for himself. In addition, there is a donation of 10,000 francs to set up a “Louise De Hem Museum” and a sum of 20,000 francs to establish a prize.

This work was part of the original bequest in 1927. Louise De Hem, Pandora's Box, circa 1910. (SM 000550)
Catalogue published in 1929.

Het nieuwe Stedelijk Museum

On 28 March 1929, Maundy Thursday, the Louise de Hem rooms in the Vleeshuis were opened. This was the first time the Stedelijk Museum had opened since the outbreak of the First World War. The museum's curator, Daniel Tack, dared to dream ahead and hoped to open other rooms in the museum soon. Although the museum could now display “modern” works, the historical collection had been destroyed. Rebuilding this collection would take years, according to the curator.

The curator is not sitting still and is trying to expand the collection in various ways. For example, he visits the royal museums in Brussels to see if any pieces from their reserves can be loaned to Ypres for display. However, this is not enough, because, as he himself points out, the reserves are not inexhaustible and there are other cities that are also calling on them after the destruction of the First World War.[iii] The proposal in the city council to also house the rescued collection of artworks from the C.O.O. (later OCMW) in the Vleeshuis seems to have fallen on deaf ears. [iv] It is only with the opening of the Ypres Museum in 2018 that the municipal collection and the collection of the almshouses are brought together as a whole.

Other city funds are also used for the museum. In 1919, the President of the Republic of China, Xu Shichang, donates the sum of 50,000 Belgian francs to King Albert I on behalf of China for the reconstruction of Ypres. The money is intended for the reconstruction of a school and library. For years, the city does nothing with the considerable sum. When the new municipal museum opened in 1929, the city decided to use the money for this museum: porcelain was purchased to decorate a Chinese room.

In addition, the city actively encourages people to donate works of art in order to expand the collection. Newspaper articles regularly appear announcing recent donations to the museum, mentioning the names of the generous donors, undoubtedly to encourage others to donate. In 1929, for example, donations included a lithographic plate of the procession of Our Lady of Thuyne, a collection of council tokens from 1848-1884 and a silver coin from 1696.[vi] In 1930, there were also several donations. Among other things, old coins, old “tellooren” (earrings) from Ypres associations, portraits of representatives of the people, prints and plans of Ypres are now in the possession of the Municipal Museum. In addition, at that time, a third room was set up in the museum, alongside the two De Hem rooms. This room displays portraits of the Belgian royal couple, the King of England and French and English army commanders. On the stairs in the Vleeshuis, wall anchors rescued from the ruins of Ypres are on display. The portraits are intended for the new war museum, which is scheduled to open on Garden Day.

In 1941, with the bequest of Florimond Lambin, another 17 works by Louise De Hem came into the possession of Ypres. Among others, “Return of a procession in Flanders” and “The country girl” belong to this second donation. The works only physically arrived in Ypres after the end of the Second World War.

The collection today

Although the Stedelijk Museum's collection has grown enormously since the initial donation, the De Hem sub-collection continues to occupy an important place in it. Today, the Ypres Museum owns 90 works by the Ypres artist. The core of this collection is still the bequest of Hélène Dehem, followed by Florimond Lambin, together accounting for 66 works. The value of the collection is unique. It is exceptional within the museum landscape for a museum to own so many works by a female artist. Moreover, these are works that Louise De Hem never sold and always kept in her own possession. Among them are several sketches and preliminary studies, as well as works of great personal value. Several works feature her mother and sister as models.

Louise De Hem, Girl in Profile – Sketch, 1900–1914 (SM 000294g).
This portrait was donated to the museum by Emma herself in 1954, together with a portrait of her brother Léon. Louise De Hem, Portrait of Emma Osterrieth, pastel, circa 1899. (SM 000543).

This unique origin of the collection naturally also causes a distortion in the oeuvre. Louise De Hem could not afford to paint for pleasure. Her work supported not only herself, but also her mother and sister. She was popular as a portrait painter and the majority of her works were undoubtedly portraits she made on commission. However, these commissions did not remain the property of the artist, as was to be expected. Through later donations and purchases, we are in possession of a few portraits that Louise De Hem made on commission. Nevertheless, portraits are undoubtedly underrepresented in the collection of the Ypres Museum.

Decision

One hundred years after the death of Ypres artist Louise De Hem, the Ypres Museum is once again putting this collection centre stage. The importance of this collection for Ypres is manifold. It is not only a unique oeuvre by a female artist from around 1900, but also the collection that formed the basis of the new Municipal Museum after its destruction in the First World War. The bequest of 1927 was the starting point for building a new art collection. A collection that we can still enjoy today.

scroll through the works

[i] D. Dendooven, J. Dewilde en A. Vandenbilcke, Hotel-Museum Arthur Merghelynck.Museumgids, Ieper, 2001, p. 26.

[ii]Het Ypersche, 30 maart 1929, p. 3.

[iii]Het Ypersche, 30 maart 1929, p. 3.

[iv] Verslag in Het Ypersche nieuws, 13 april 1929, p. 3.

[v] Het Ypersch nieuws, 19 september 1936, p. 3.Het Ypersche, 8 december 1928, p. 4. Meer hierover kan je terugvinden in Sjouwers voor de oorlog : Chinese arbeiders in de Eerste Wereldoorlog, tentoonstellingscatalogus, Ieper, 2010.

[vi] Het Ypersch nieuws, 28 september 1929, p. 2; Het Ypersch nieuws, 12 oktober 1929, p. 3.

[vii] Het Ypersche nieuws, 19 april 1930, p. 9. Het oorlogsmuseum in kwestie is het Ypres Salient War Museum van de Brit Leo Murphy. Dat museum opent in de kelders van het Vleeshuis de deuren.

Research assistant Dr Hannelore Franck wrote this article for VIFF magazine.