A colossal sculpture by the French artist Bernar Venet, described as Europe’s largest public sculpture, has been unveiled in Belgium.
The 250-ton steel sculpture, called Arc Majeur, has been installed on either side of the E411 motorway in Lavaux-Sainte-Anne in Belgium between Namur and Luxembourg. Motorists are under the impression that they are driving through the all-encompassing sculptural arc.
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Image: courtesy of the artist
“It is a tour de force of engineering,” Venet tells us. “We had to close the highway completely for two days while we installed 2,800 tons of concrete, it’s not like making a watercolour. But motorists seem to like it, they’re saying it’s cool and something very positive, like two arms going up to the sky.”
![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/90734ef67835434fe2652c1c1c2de070949b59be-931x621.jpg?w=1920&h=1281&fit=crop&auto=format)
Image: courtesy of the artist
The piece, made from two sweeping arcs, was realised more than 35 years after it was embraced and then rejected by the French government.
![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/b90f5beea47161215e89df2e4930a0a9703a6468-931x524.jpg?w=1920&h=1081&fit=crop&auto=format)
Bernar Venet with pieces of the unassembled Arc Majeur Image: courtesy of the artist
The vast piece is in two parts: a large arc made up of three sections measuring 20m each and reaching 60m in height, installed on one side of the road, while on the other side there is a smaller arc, measuring 28m. The €2.5m work is largely funded by the John Cockerill Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the mechanical engineering conglomerate based in Seraing, Belgium.
![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/cxgd3urn/production/4d4b166588d9711003f35bd61bf00430a83f700d-799x617.jpg?w=1920&h=1483&fit=crop&auto=format)
Arc Majeur in situ