Launch year:
Started as a private collection in 1960s and evolved into a corporate collection in 1987.

Number of artworks:
The collection counts approximatively 2500 works.

Status of collection:
International

Artistic domains and general information about the collection:
The ING Belgium collection was initiated as a private collection at the start of the 1960s, and was assembled with great ardour by the art enthusiast Léon Lambert, President of Banque Bruxelles Lambert until 1987. Today's collection is the result of the bank's new international dimension following a merger, but it is also proof of a passion for, a belief in and a commitment to contemporary art.


Since the bank has been collecting for some time now, it has acquired works that represent major artists  of the late 20th century such as Gilbert & George, Georg Baselitz, Markus Lüpertz, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Giuseppe Penone, Tony Cragg, Richard Deacon, Antony Gormley, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, Christian Boltanski, Dan Graham,….,.
With an eye for authentic talent and the diversity of contemporary trends, the collection was expanded to include the work of "einzelgängers" such as Michel François, Mona Hatoum, Sandra Vasquez della Hora, Jessica Backhaus, Elly Strik,….



 

Commission programme / Site-specific order(s) :
Always in keeping with the times as well as its architectural surroundings, the collection has evolved alongside the staff of the bank, with which it is now intrinsically linked. This is a link that enriches the bank's human capital, and in order to strengthen that link, Art Management has called upon French artist and Brussels resident Pierre Bismuth (b. 1963) to design the presentation of the collection. This results in the project Coll/nnection.

Coll/nnection (2014) is a unique interactive project between the ING Belgium Collection and the bank's employees, each of whom has an opportunity to connect with one of the 2500 works of art in the collection. By being linked to an employee, the work of art becomes a social and dynamic element. It reveals the way art lives and evolves through the individual’s experience.