Michel Schooyans Art Collection

This collection contains paintings, engravings, woodcuts, drawings, posters, photographs, collages, sculptures, pottery, and textiles from Michel Schooyan's pesonal art collection. The Schooyans Collection is divided into several series:

The "Original Paintings ('Uniques') by Brazilian Artists Series" includes one-of-a-kind or 'unique' paintings completed by Brazilian artists.

The "Prints and other 'Multiples' by Brazilian Artists Series" includes reproductions and fine art prints such as etchings or lithographs by Brazilian artists.

The "Artworks by Unknown Artists Series" includes 2D artworks (both 'uniques' and 'multiples') whose creator is unknown. For many of these pieces, the title is also unknown.

The "Dishes by Brazilian Artists Series" consists of dishes with folk art designs by both known and unknown artists.

The "Sculptures and 3D Objects by Brazilian Artists" contains a wide variety of small sculptures and figurines by both known and unknown artists. These include textiles, animal figurines, religious statues, and many other small objects.

Where possible, the pieces are arranged alphabetically by the artist's last name.

The majority of the works in this collection were acquired from Schooyans in 2010. In January of 2017, he donated several additional materials to the Benson. These include: artworks MS-137 through MS-152; several photos of Schooyans with Brazilian artists (filed under the "Michel Schooyans Biograppical Materials Series"); and a booklet from the Casa do Rio Vermelho, former home of writer Jorge Amado (filed under the "Catalogs and Promotional Materials Series").

In 2021, the Benson received a final addition to the Schooyans Collection from Anne Marie Libert. Father Schooyans gifted these works to Libert with the intention that Libert would eventually transfer them to the Benson. Those have been added as their own series and are numbered MS-137 through MS-165.

A Note from the Donor:

Presentation

"This catalogue contains the art works we gathered until 2003. It is divided into several parts: unique graphic art works including original paintings; multiple graphic art works including prints of etchings or lithographs; sculptures; dishes; textiles.

These art works are representative of the originality of the Brazilan art at the turning point of the XXI century. Classical or popular, the Brazilian music is known all over the world; the same goes for movies. The plastic Brazilian art, on the contrary, although of an incomparable richness, is mostly unknown outside the country.

The purpose of this catalogue, which is meant for a very limited circle of amateurs, is amongst others to reveal some first class Brazilian artists outside their country.

Mrs. Claudine Bulens-Roussy has set up this catalogue very carefully. We want to extend our thanks and utmost appreciation for the meticulousness and the patience with which she undertook this work, from the taking of the pictures to the presentation of materials.

For each art work there are succinct but essential indications: title (if available), techniques, measures, as well as a reference number which enables to visualize each work in the files contained in the catalogue. Because of the diversity in their measures, the reproductions already give a fairly good idea of the dimensions of the originals."

--Michel Schooyans, March 2008