Collection

The Fondation’s collections include more than 6,000 works, which are all categorised by technique. They were donated by the artist in 1998 or bequeathed by his wife Paola, on her death in 2012. Over time, other works have been acquired directly by the Fondation or donated by family and friends, including his first wife Colette Portal and his sister Dany Folon.  The Fondation also owns works by other artists, from Folon and Paola Ghiringhelli’s personal collection.

Furthermore, it is also the custodian of thousands of archives relating to the artist’s life and work – photos, texts, letters, administrative and legal documents, etc. – and also his personal library.

These archives will also be added to the site over time.

The Fondation’s collections reflect the insatiable curiosity that inspired Folon to master so many techniques. These range from postage stamps to tapestry and from watercolours to sculpture in bronze, and also include jewellery, stained glass and ceramics.

This portal showcases the Fondation Folon’s collection, the works that it owns. Currently, only Folon’s sculptures have been included in a catalogue raisonné, an inventory of all items created by the artist, whether owned by the Fondation Folon or not.

The decision to publish these items in digital format means that the Fondation Folon can continually enrich this information source and make it richer and more rigorous.

The choice of a publication in digital format means that the Fondation Folon can continually enrich this information source and make it richer and more rigorous.

This portal offers a number of search and exploration tools: full-text search engine; advanced search form and filtering of search results by date of creation, domain and sub-domain, materials and technique, author/artist…

Labels can also be exported in pdf format.

The team

A team of art historians and restorers has been inventorying the collections since 2017. When necessary, they have been assisted by trainees and volunteers, to whom we are sincerely grateful.

The labels are based on older inventories and on archival and bibliographic sources. They are all illustrated and sometimes also include other information such as their historical context, exhibitions in which they featured, etc.

Photographs of works

Most of the labels are accompanied by one or more professional-quality photos.

However some descriptions, but just a few, still include their working snapshot and will eventually be scanned in high quality. In all these cases, the Fondation has chosen to publish at least one snapshot to identify the work. The images shown in these cases are in low definition and may not be used on any medium without prior written consent from the Fondation Folon.

For authorisation to use photos and to obtain high-definition photos, please contact: p.bourdinon@fondationfolon.be or the ADAGP (Paris). Certain photos must also carry the photographer’s copyright.