Myriam Ullens, a major collector who, together with her husband Guy Ullens, supported and defended contemporary Chinese art, was killed outside the couple’s house in the village of Ohain south of Brussels today (March 29) according to several reports in the Belgian press. She was 70 years old. Reports claim she was shot by her stepson Nicolas Ullens, who was detained by police. Her husband, Guy, is said to have survived the incident.
Myriam and Guy were in their car outside their home around 10 a.m. when Nicolas shot his mother-in-law, who died at the scene, according to The Free. Myriam and Nicolas had been in a protracted dispute over inheritance issues, according to multiple reports.
Myriam and Guy Ullens, who married in 1999, have been prominent and influential art collectors for decades. They began by collecting classical Chinese scroll paintings, but eventually turned their attention to contemporary art. In 2007, they opened the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, considered at the time as the first museum of contemporary art in China– which showed works from their collection of over 2,000 works. In 2017, they sold the museum, renamed UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, to a group of investors; they continued and expanded their collection activities under the banner of the Swiss company Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation.
In 2004, Myriam, who went by the name Mimi and was a cancer survivor, founded the Mimi Foundation to create centers within hospitals to provide physical and mental therapy to patients undergoing cancer treatment. In 2013, she co-curated an exhibition and auction during Frieze Week in London to support the Mimi Foundation.
“If many of the artists in this project are Chinese, it’s because of our long and close relationship with them. This is just the tip of our iceberg – which we continue to monitor and collect intensively with the new generation,” said Myriam. Ocula at the time. “A collection is like a living, breathing body. It evolves organically.
Myriam was born in Cologne, Germany. After an initial success in the food industry, she married Guy, a Belgian businessman and baron, and devoted herself to fashion (including the Maison-Ullens brand) and philanthropy. The couple’s charitable activities also included opening Ullens School, an educational institution in Nepal.
Nicolas Ullens, a former Belgian state security agent, is one of four children Guy had with his first wife, Micheline Franckx.
The Ullenses foundation did not immediately respond to a request for additional information.
