Although he was a great lover of art in all its forms, Michel Demoortel was particularly interested in tapestries attributed to having been made in Enghien, the town he loved so much.
Between 2007 and 2009, he donated to the King Baudouin Foundation four remarkable tapestries that still bear the mark of the town and/or the weaver, so that they could be exhibited at the Maison Jonathas in Enghien: Hercule tuant le dragon au jardin des Hespérides (Hercules Slaying the Dragon in the Garden of the Hesperides, 2007), Scène forestière avec chasse au Faucon (Forest Scene with Falcon Hunting, 2008), Scène forestière aux Hérons (Forest Scene with Herons, 2009) and Scène avec Céphale et Procris (Scene with Cephalus and Procris, 2009).
In order to ensure their continued protection, in 2007 Michel Demoortel also created a Fund bearing his name, managed by the King Baudouin Foundation. This Fund has as its mission to safeguard Enghien’s architectural, artistic and cultural heritage and in particular its tapestries.
However, this philanthropist did not stop there! In 2021, Michel Demoortel also donated his collection of medals and bas-reliefs to the King Baudouin Foundation. This collection is notable not only for the number of entries in the inventory (1946 references!), but also for its eclecticism. Of special note is a wonderful series of Belgian royal portraits. There is also a series of some forty medals with female portraits represented, something rarely seen from the period between the two world wars. And finally, around ten large bronze medals help us to understand the techniques used by medal makers up until 1960. This collection can be consulted at the Cabinet des Médailles de Namur.
Michel Demoortel died on 22 April 2024, but he left behind other very precious objects, which he also bequeathed to the King Baudouin Foundation. Among these are two bronze sculptures: Les Saisons Viriles (The Virile Seasons), made by Victor Rousseau in 1923 and Farandole (1916), attributed to Philippe Wolfers. Farandole was produced in only five examples. The artist kept this copy in his own collection. A marble version of this model was presented at the occasion of the 1935 World Fair in Brussels, on the platform of a centrepiece by Wolfers in gilded silver and marble. These two beautiful sculptures will be entrusted to the Museum of Art & History in Brussels.
Works by a number of other artists are part of the collection of the passionate collector Michel Demoortel, including Jean Delville, Anto Carte, Leon Devos, Eugène Laermans, Walter Sauer and Léon Frédéric.
The King Baudouin Foundation is currently studying the best possible way of presenting all of these works to the general public in the not too distant future. Such would have been the greatest wish of Michel Demoortel!