Collection presentation
In February 2025, the Roger Raveel Museum temporarily closed its doors for renovation work. Structural improvements enhanced the climate control in two exhibition galleries and the storage area, and the building and garden underwent a thorough refurbishment. During the closure, a selection of works was loaned to exhibitions elsewhere, ensuring that Raveel’s work remained on view.
After a year and a half, the museum reopens with an exhibition that reveals the heart of the collection. Through a carefully curated selection of well-known and lesser-known works, Raveel’s oeuvre is presented not chronologically but through highlights and connections. The collection presentation showcases key works, with particular attention to the early paintings and drawings, in which themes such as daily life, the tension between figuration and abstraction, and the relationship between image and reality are already present. It reveals how Raveel’s innovative visual language heralds a new chapter in post-war painting.
The exhibitions give special attention to the murals in Beervelde (1966–67) created 60 years ago by Roger Raveel, Raoul De Keyser, Etienne Elias and Reinier Lucassen. In addition, the focus is also on Raveel's friendship with the poet Roland Jooris. Jooris, who turns 90 this year, was also the first curator of the Roger Raveel Museum.
- Curator: Melanie Deboutte