pumping some fresh blood into me that promises
to lead to new adventures, I must at the same time
enthusiastically admit that without my determining
encounters with Alex Arthur, Pierre Moos, Yann
Ferrandin, Bernard Dulon, Patrick Mestdagh, Didier
Claes, my associate Marc Matthys, and others I am
no doubt forgetting (sorry!), I wouldn’t be where
I am today. The same is true of the exhibitions
produced by the brilliant Yves Le Fur at the Musée
du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac and the lengthy
discussions I have had with Julien Volper of the
Tervuren museum and with my friend and tireless
fellow collector David Lebard. My encounter with
the late Willy Mestach was more significant than
any other, and I cannot be more appreciative.
By virtue of the way he looked at objects, his
immediately recognizable taste, and his profound
knowledge, he represents the archetype of the
collector. We miss him terribly.
127