Peiremuzee

Luc Peire was a leading figure in geometric painting in our country during the second half of the 20th century. Mu.Zee is taking over his legacy and celebrating it with a small exhibition in Peire's studio museum in Knokke. It is a simple nameplate on a townhouse in De Judestraat in Knokke-Heist: Foundation Luc and Jenny Peire. It is not immediately apparent that behind the modernist facade lies a beautiful artist's house. Luc Peire (1916-1994) lived and worked here for many years. During his lifetime, he and his wife established the Luc and Jenny Peire Foundation with the aim of keeping his work together and promoting it after his death. Mu.Zee from Ostend is now taking over the Foundation, thus gaining a third museum location on the coast.

The Constant Permeke Museum in Jabbeke also falls under Mu.Zee. The takeover is celebrated with the small exhibition 'Attitude'. Curator Joost Declercq juxtaposes Peire's work with that of other modernist painters from Mu.Zee's collection, including Félix Labisse, Evelyne Axell, and Valérie Mannaerts. The common thread through Peire's oeuvre is verticality. The most impressive example can be found in the specially built garden room, which houses the mirror installation 'Environnement I'. You can step into the garden room, but be warned: due to the mirror effect, you get the feeling that you are walking into a glass shaft of unfathomable depth. Not recommended for heart patients. In a short text next to the installation, Peire outlines his philosophy: 'My research concerns space - the boundless, breaking the dimensions of the painting in the vertical, reaching the infinitely vertical of the boundless space.' Translated into his paintings, these are thick and thin lines in different colors from bottom to top. A visit to the Peire Museum has an intimate feel. In the garden stands the bungalow where the couple lived. The bed is still made, the shower curtain seems due for a wash. The house on the street was demolished in the 1980s and replaced with a new building designed by the architectural firm De Bruycker-De Brock. The building consists of two exhibition spaces and a walk-in vault with Luc Peire's collection. 163 paintings are stored in sliding racks. During a guided tour, you can visit the vault. This is worthwhile as it makes the evolution in Peire's oeuvre visible. Peire started very figuratively and expressionistically, in the wake of Constant Permeke, gradually evolving towards geometric abstraction.

Opening Hours Peiremuzee 2024

11:00 AM – 5:00 PM

July – December: Friday to Monday

August and school holidays: every day

Ticket prices:

€12 and €10 – children under 12: free – between 13 and 16: €3

Currently, the museum pass is not accepted.