The new book, "30 Jaar Passie"/"30 Years of Passion" of Erwin Joos will be presented at Flanders House New York. This new art hardcover publication has more than 1,200 pictures, and was printed in a
limited and signed edition of only 750 copies.

On March 24th the new book “30 years of passion 1982 – 2012. 30 years Eugeen Van Mieghem Foundation” was presented in the Van Mieghem Museum. The book skizzes the hard labour of Erwin Joos to strive for international recognition of the Antwerp painter of harbors: Eugene Van Mieghem (October 1st., 1875– March 24th., 1930), a Flemish artist born in the port of Antwerp. As a boy, Van Mieghem was confronted with the harsh reality of life at the waterfront.

At primary school he showed a talent for drawing. He was introduced to the work of Van Gogh, Seurat, Meunier, de Toulouse-Lautrec and others at an exhibition organised by Henry van de Velde at the Antwerp Academy around 1892. A lot of the portraits Van Mieghem painted and drawn were portraits of immigrants who took the Red Star Line to go to US.

In recent years the work of the Antwerp port artist Eugeen Van Mieghem has been rediscovered internationally. An recent Steinlen retrospective at the Picasso Museum in Barcelona included no less than seven of his works brought definitive international recognition for the work of Eugene Van Mieghem.

The Red Star Line Museum will open in Antwerp on September 27, 2013 and at least 12 original works by Eugeen Van Mieghem (1875-1930) from the collection of the Municipal Print Room of Antwerp will be exhibited on a permanent basis.

During the book presentation we will also show a short movie, "Antwerp" by Peter Van Goethem, produced by Freshwater Films. "Driven by memories of the past an elderly Russian man undertakes his final journey to Antwerp. His desire to put the pieces of his childhood together fades away as reality turns out to be disturbing and alienating. Hope returns when he finds himself standing in a room in the Van Mieghem Museum filled with forgotten recollections."