Vincent Coppée – Tangier Art Collector
I have yet to reread Tintin in the Congo, but listening to Vincent Coppée speak, his eyes full of mischief, I can easily imagine him in 1985, a Belgian-born young man arriving in Kinshasa, Zaïre (formerly Léopoldville in the Belgian Congo). He began working in communications and advertising for his own agency and a large international corporation.
Vincent, looking for favourable places to carry out his work, found, among others, the Académie des Beaux-Arts of Kinshasa, where he met the young painter Aimé Mpane. There, Vincent encountered and began to delve into African art; with care and passion, he soon started to assemble a collection, avoiding mediocrity and works by ‘artists without an art’*.
In 1996, he returned to Brussels, where he diversified his collection with sculpture and photography, including works by Robert Mapplethorpe and Walker Evans. In 2007, he sold a large portion of his collection to take a year’s sabbatical, returning to Africa, with a first stop in Tangier. But his journey ended there: he had a home built, featuring beautiful lines that pay homage to his passion for art.
Daniel Aron, Tangier, May 2018
*Capote, Truman. Local Color. Random House, 1950.
Articles you also might like
Spazio Nobile Studiolo presents a selection of Quentin Vuong’s alchemical Mercure mirrors, in conversation with sculptural wood forms and collectible furniture by Kaspar Hamacher, as part of the Season XXXVI of Spazio Nobile Gallery. The exhibition is on view through January 18th, 2026.
Spazio Nobile presents a solo exhibition by Didi Ng Wing Yin, finalist of the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2025. A collection of furniture, sculptures and vessels made in wood, Yin’s primary material, The Nature of Wood centres on the artist’s investigation of materiality and the relationships between design and art. The exhibition is on view through January 18, 2026.
From November 6, 2025 – January 17, 2025, Galerie Maria Wettegren presents Animal Vegetal, a solo exhibition of work by Estelle Yomeda. The Paris-based designer presents a series of sculptural furniture designed and handmade in collaboration with craftsmen in Togo, West Africa.
Roots is a monumental installation by Finnish artist Kustaa Saksi made from jacquard weaving and delicate Japanese washi paper yarns. The installation is on view at the Institut finlandais through February 21, 2026.