‘Arc Majeur’ by Bernard Venet

Drivers on the A4 motorway between Brussels and Luxembourg are surprised to see a metal arc emerging on either side of the motorway. It is actually a work of art, known as “Arc Majeur,” by Bernard Venet. It evokes the form of an enormous metal circle, 75 meters in diameter (about 250 feet), forming an angle of 205.5 degrees. Part of it seems to be hidden underground. The two arches have a total weight of 200 metric tons, with the north-eastern arch reaching a height of 60 meters (almost 200 feet).

The chaotic history of this work of art began in 1984, when Jack Lang, the French minister of culture, asked Venet to create a work of art to be placed next to a motorway. The original plan was to install it on the A6 at the Porte de Bourgogne (Burgundy Gate), between Auxerre and Avallon.

However, the project was blocked by a local politician. In the mid-2000s, the French motorway management company APRR relaunched the project, but with the demand that the work be painted red. The artist refused to do so and the project was once again abandoned. A third attempt in the Moselle region was also unsuccessful.

In 2014, during the inauguration of two of the artist's works at the headquarters of the Belgian engineering firm John Cockerill, the company’s director, Bernard Serin, had a meeting with the artist. During this event, the two men made a commitment to the realization of the project once and for all. The John Cockerill Foundation paid €2,500,000 (about $3 million) for the work, before donating it to the Walloon Region, which manages the motorway. On 23 October 2019, 35 years after the start of the project, the work was inaugurated.