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Between January and June 2013, Irish works of art from the European Parliament's art collection are exhibited in Parliament's premises in Brussels (Altiero Spinelli building, 3rd floor, zone G).
This rotating exhibition is organised on the occasion of Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It includes 21 paintings and 3 sculptures by Irish artists, acquired by the European Parliament from 1982 to 1993.
The EP art collection was started in 1980 on the initiative of the first President of the directly-elected European Parliament, Simone Veil. Her aim was to introduce at a European level the custom of exhibiting European works of art, as practiced by many national parliaments. The first works of art were purchased from 1982-1989. A second set of acquisitions followed from 1989-1993, while a third tranche, approved in 1997, completed the process of acquiring works from the original EU-15 countries. Following the accession of Central and Eastern European countries in 2004 and 2007, the Bureau adopted a fourth acquisition plan for the years 2006-2010, and in 2010 the fifth plan for Bulgaria and Romania, which completed the collection for EU-27.
Over 30 years the European Parliament has acquired 387 representative works of modern art, with a focus on young, promising artists at the beginning of their careers. Today the collection comprises over 600 paintings, sculptures and other artworks from all EU Member States and beyond, including works of art donated or loaned by national parliaments and other institutions.
The works of art are displayed at the European Parliament's three places of work in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg. In order to give everyone a chance to enjoy the collection, the European Parliament opened in December 2011 this online gallery.
For more information on the collection or particular works of art see FAQs (link) or write to art@europarl.europa.eu.