Perle fine (Fine Pearl) by Oscar Jespers, one of the earliest masterpieces of Modernist sculpture in Belgium, is currently on show at the Musée L in Louvain-la-Neuve. 

Oscar Jespers is considered to be one of the most important Belgian Modernist sculptors of the 20th century. Together with his younger brother Paul Joosten, he was part of the Antwerp Avant-garde group centred around Paul van Ostaijen. The work of Oscar Jespers sheds light on the development of sculpture in Belgium during the first half of the 20th century. 

Perle Fine, which represents the stylised head of a woman, is one of the first masterpieces of Modernist sculpture in Belgium, with its simplified style, pushed almost to abstraction. This frontier between the figurative and the abstract is one of the main features of the collection of modern art at Louvain-la-Neuve’s Musée L. As the museum has few pieces of sculpture from this period, Perle fine fits in naturally with its collection. After the exhibition, Perle fine will be entrusted to the Royal Fine Arts Museum of Antwerp.