Pierre de Séjournet documentation fund

Throughout his life and career, Pierre de Séjournet de Rameignies (1933-2010) collected around 40 running metres of artists' folders and a 70-metre-long reference library. The Rubenshuis acquired his staggeringly vast collection in 2011, thanks to the support of the Heritage Fund, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation. 

A lawyer with a serious interest in art from the Low Countries, it was only in 1970 that he turned his attention to his major passion: the study of painting. With impressive contacts in the museum world, including the reading room in the former Rubenianum, and the art trade, de Séjournet built up prodigious expertise in his field. 

With more than 3,000 artist folders containing thousands of images of European artworks, including amateur images of works in private collections, the documentation fund was head and shoulders above the rest. The reference library includes museum, exhibition and auction catalogues, monographs and reference works. The library and photo documentation of Marie-Louise Hairs are also part of this collection.