Four drawings by Léon Spilliaert listed as Flemish movable …

The Belgian Official Gazette (Moniteur belge) of November 4, 2026, publishes the final decision to enroll four works by Léon Spilliaert on the movable heritage list of the Flemish Community. The measure was taken on October 28, 2026, by the Flemish Minister for Welfare, Poverty Reduction, Culture, and Equal Opportunities, and appears on pages 59206 to 59208 under references C − 2026/008081, C − 2026/008082, C − 2026/008083, and C − 2026/008084.

Four decrees, one single procedure

Each decree is based on the same formula: “the following cultural property is included as a final measure in the movable heritage list of the Flemish Community,” section 1 (individual objects), division 4 (artistic heritage). The four notices are built on an identical framework: a summary description of the work, detailed justification, place of conservation, and ownership status.

The justifications invoke three recurring criteria of the Flemish movable heritage regime: the rarity of the piece within the artist’s body of work, its indispensable nature for understanding his trajectory, and its reference value for research. The enrollment does not change the ownership status of the assets but places them under a protective status.

What the list now protects

Le nuage / De wolk (1902), pencil, washed India ink and brush on paper, 253 x 372 mm, private collection (private property) — reference APA 2006, no. 11, p. 15; C − 2026/008081.
De blauwe teil (1907), 48 x 63, Mu.ZEE collection, city of Ostend collection, inv. SM000058 (1955 acquisition), public property; C − 2026/008082.
Dijk en Kursaal (January 1, 1909), washed India ink, brush and colored pencil on paper, 490 x 648 mm, private collection (private property); C − 2026/008083.
Dubbelportret van Paul-Gustave Van Hecke en Norine Deschryver (1920), gouache, watercolor and ink on cardboard, 1700 x 1200 mm, Mu.ZEE collection, inv. SM002531, public property; C − 2026/008084.

The double portrait, centerpiece of the set

The Dubbelportret van Paul-Gustave Van Hecke en Norine Deschryver is presented by the decree as “the largest work that Léon Spilliaert ever created.” The text highlights the technical departure — a drawing on cardboard where the artist primarily worked on paper — and the synthesis of gouache, watercolor, and ink, characteristic of a self-taught artist.

The notice emphasizes the critical importance of the portrait of Paul-Gustave Van Hecke and his wife Norine Deschryver, central figures in Flemish artistic life during the interwar period, and the documentary value of the painting for understanding the relationship between artist and patron. It notes that a comparable double portrait by Frits Van den Bergh (1923, KMSKA) also appears on the list of masterpieces.

The two other pieces held in the public domain are located at Mu.ZEE, in Ostend; De wolk and Dijk en Kursaal remain in private hands.

Sixty days to petition the Council of State

Each of the four decrees reproduces the same notice of appeal: a petition for annulment or a request for suspension of execution may be filed before the administrative litigation section of the Council of State.

Deadline: sixty days from the notification of the decision; in the absence of notification, from the day the petitioner became aware of it.
Electronic means: secure website of the Council of State.
Postal means: registered petition addressed to the Council of State, rue de la Science 33, 1040 Brussels.

On the same day, the Belgian Official Gazette publishes a fifth entry of the same type, that of the Triomf van Minerva by Jacob Jordaens (Flemish Community collection, inv. BK009768), held at the Museum Plantin-Moretus (C − 2026/008085).

Scope

For collectors and institutions, these four entries freeze the status of some of the most significant pieces of the Spilliaert collection held in Flanders: two of them effectively leave the realm of free circulation, while any challenge must now be brought, within sixty days, before the country’s highest administrative court.

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Official source: Belgian Official Gazette n° 2026/008081 to 2026/008084, November 4, 2026, p. 59206-59208.