ING Collection

More than just a collection

The ING Collection is a living, evolving collection that is constantly questioning its relationship to art and it its boundaries. It is a modern collection that reflect ING’s international, contemporary and innovative character. It reflects the figurative tradition of ING in an experimental and new way. 

Moving beyond a traditional acquisition policy, ING wants to foster a culture of innovation and change. It wants to connect art with the public and to support artists. In recent years, this has led to interesting collaborations, such as commissions, loans and various projects with artists and different institutions. 

Visit the collection

By integrating artworks into ING premises all over the world,  colleagues are confronted with surprising approaches. Projects such as Collection Connection and Art Alerts invite us to discover and immerse ourselves in these approaches. The new Cedar office in Amsterdam is accessible to the public. 

The ING Art Centre

Since its launch in 1986, the ING Art Centre has been an active cultural partner in Brussels. Dedicated to modern and contemporary art, the centre hosts temporary exhibitions devoted to artists such as James Ensor, Peter Kogler, Christo and Jean-Claude. It also hosts thematic exhibitions such as Pop Art in Belgium, Guggenheim. Full abstraction and Revolution. Records and rebels 1966-1970. The exhibition in 2019/2020 was entitled Love.Hate.Debate. Its aim was to start a conversation with the ING collection. It reflects in an innovative way our commitment to art, how ING is embedded in today’s society, and its desire to help make art accessible to all. At the same time, the ING Art Centre presents a programme of events that gives visitors more food for thought and the opportunity to enhance their experience. With more than 60 exhibitions under its belt, the ING Art Centre has attracted more than three million visitors. 

ING Talent Award

The ING Talent Award was created in 2012 and provides a platform for new photography talent to gain exposure to a wider international audience. This is in line with ING's mission to make creativity and art accessible to a larger audience, while supporting and promoting the contemporary arts community.

The five finalists are participating in the ING Talent Programme that challenges emerging artists to explore the boundaries of contemporary photography and take the next step in their career. ING commissions the finalists to produce a work around a specific theme and are mentored in a series of workshops. 

As part of this programme, participants not only receive help from specialists, they also get the opportunity to engage with photography professionals and to expand their own network.

History 

The ING Collection was started in 1974 by one of our predecessors, the NMB Postbank Group for its new headquarters in Amsterdam. It was founded around two figurative art movements in the Netherlands: the Magic Realists from the 1920s and 1930s and the Northern Realists of the 1980s.

Over the years, new collections have been added through various mergers and acquisitions. These include the collections of Postbank and Nationale-Nederlanden in the Netherlands, Bank Brussels Lambert (BBL) in Belgium, Barings Bank in London and ING Bank Slaski in Poland.

Baron Léon Lambert, a Belgian banker with a passion for contemporary art, started the former Lambert collection in the early 1960s with international avantgarde artists. His collection merged with the collection of the Banque de Bruxelles to become the BBL collection and represents major artistic movements of the late 20th century. In 1998, it was incorporated into the ING Collection.

ING acquired British merchant bank Barings in 1995. Its art collection was started in the 1920s and includes portraits of members of the Barings family, 18th and 19th century English watercolours and figurative works by ‘early-modern’ British artists. ING has set up a charitable trust to manage the Baring Archive and the associated historical portraits – a collection that has been given Designated Status by Arts Council England.

In Poland, ING is one of the first companies to collect local contemporary art from the 1990s onwards, i. including paintings, photographs, drawings, videos and sculptures. The works are owned by the ING Polish Art Foundation, which was founded in 2000 to promote and support the development of local artists.