2016-09-28

4728 - 20170115 - BELGIË-GENT - Verhaeren Revealed - 15.10.2016-15.01.2017

.

Théo Van Rysselberghe, The lecture of Emile Verhaeren, 1903
 
The writer, critic and the art of his time (1881-1916)
 
In co-operation with the Verhaeren museum in Sint-Amands at the Scheldt and the Free University of Brussels (ULB), the Museum of Fine Arts organises a grand exhibition about the Ghentian poet and art critic Emile Verhaeren, who passed away exactly one hundred years ago. 
The exhibition focuses on the universal nature of Verhaeren’s works, his network within the art world around the turn of the century and the international attention for Verhaeren’s work, first of all in Belgium and France but also in Russia and other countries. 
One hundred years after his death, the MSK pays homage to Emile Verhaeren (1855-1916), a key protagonist in the Belgian cultural landscape around the turn of the century. We invite you to rediscover the fin de siècle art world through the eyes of the writer who witnessed it from the front row.
 
Privileged witness 
Emile Verhaeren was a poet and art critic who enjoyed an international reputation during his lifetime. Between 1880 and 1916, he closely followed the development of avant-garde art in Belgium. He defended naturalism and socially engaged art, Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism and Symbolism. Above all, he was a defender of modernity, which he discovered in the art of his time.
 
Verhaeren captured the emotions, passions and artistic controversies of the day in his poetry and writings. Over 100 years later, they allow us to rediscover the work of national and international artists through the eyes of an idiosyncratic connoisseur.
 
International masterpieces 
The exhibition brings to life the historical and artistic context from which the poet-critic’s oeuvre emerged. As a starting point, we draw upon the museum’s own rich collection of paintings, sculptures and works on paper. Popular favourites, such as The Reading by Emile Verhaeren by Théo Van Rysselberghe and Children at their Morning Toilet by James Ensor, will be brought into dialogue with masterpieces that rarely leave the reserves
 
At the same time, a wide range of works from international public and private collections will travel to Ghent, including pieces by Auguste Rodin, Paul Signac, Maximilien Luce and Odilon Redon. Works by artists such as Léon Frédéric, Eugène Laermans and Constantin Meunier, Jan Toorop and Guillaume Vogels, Henry Van de Velde, Fernand Khnopff and George Minne are also not to be missed.
In total, over 200 artworks and books will be on view in the galleries.
 
Opening of the Drawings Cabinet  
The opening of the Verhaeren exhibition coincides with the inauguration of the new Drawings Cabinet. In these eight rooms, and through changing displays, the MSK can henceforth make its multifaceted collection of works on paper accessible to the public. For this exhibition, we delve into our exceptional holdings of Ensor prints and precious books, for example, in addition to the numerous pastels, drawings and other works on paper that will be displayed on the walls.
 
Bruno Fornari, Johan De Smet and Cathérine Verleysen (MSK), working in collaboration with Rik Hemmerijckx (Emile Verhaeren, Sint-Amands Provincial Museum) and Paul Aron (Université Libre de Bruxelles – FNRS), lead the curatorial team.  
 
 
 
 
MSK - Verhaeren Revealed - 15.10.2016-15.01.2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

2016-09-21

4726 - 20170129 - BELGIQUE - LA HULPE - Galaxie Erro - 01.10.2016-29.01.2017

.


The Folon Foundation, in cooperation with Jean Marchetti, presents about a hundred works: watercolours, collages, prints, paintings and enamelled plaques. They make it possible to understand the universe of Erró who, like an acrobat creating an infinitely rich and complex story, denounces the absurdity of contemporary society. Even if, at first sight, the image imposes itself, the codes for reading it appear beyond the immediate effect, demanding a deeper look.

The history of the modern world is expressed through the works of this prolific and deeply human artist; this genius of composition. A ferocious iconophile, always on the lookout for images (advertising, news photos, comic strips, posters, political documents, icons from art history, etc.), Erró reassembles and reuses the visuals that surround him like a precursor of the Internet, inventing forms of telling stories and creating puzzles with a brand new grammar and rhetoric. Collages, the basis for preparing his canvases, form an entirely creative activity.

The well-known international artist Erró (Guðmundur Guðmundsson) was born in 1932 in Ólafsvík, Iceland. Admitted to the College of Fine Arts in Reykjavik in September 1949, he obtained his art teacher’s diploma in 1951. He then studied engraving, frescoes and painting in Oslo, Norway, and mosaic art in Italy. He held his first exhibition in 1955 in Florence, at the Santa Trinità Gallery. Since 1958 he has lived in Paris, where his work appeared as part of the Narrative Figuration movement. Although he is considered one of its pioneers, his work is both Pop and Baroque at the same time. Neither conventional nor traditional, Erró goes beyond the boundaries of Pop Art and, although his style cannot be considered as belonging to Surrealism, Hyperrealism or even Social Realism, his work combines elements of each of these artistic movements.



 
Fondation Folon  - Galaxie Erro - 01.10.2016 - 29.01.2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2016-09-14

4724 - 20170226 - BELGIË - ANTWERPEN - Rik Wauters - 17.09.2016-26.02.2017

.

The theme of enchanting homeliness by painter Rik Wouters, as well as the intimate feeling of sanctity between him and his wife Nel, forms the premise of this exhibition.

In our region, Wouters was the only artist to combine Post-Impressionist painting techniques with simple domestic scenes. His expressive brush strokes and the unfinished style of his canvases give a dynamic to his work that, combined with the emphasis on lighting and colour, result in an enchanting and optimistic quality.

Wouters had his fair share of difficulties in life, yet the harmonious ‘good life’ takes centre stage in his work. His love for Nel was a motivating force in his work and her lust for life and energy inspired him to create many well-known paintings and sculptures.

In this exhibition, the contemporary movement in which people are again seeking domestic intimacy and contact with nature, the ‘slow’ movement and the renewed attention for traditional techniques, like ceramics, weaving and dyeing, are linked with the utopian philosophy from Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden. Published in 1854 Walden presented the non-industrial, natural way of life as an alternative to the overstimulation of consumer society. In painting, we see a similar change in Impressionism in the mid-nineteenth century, shifting from ‘bourgeois’ art to more of an internalization highlighting the beauty of the natural way of life with an emphasis on lighting.

The notion of shelter and sanctity is today reflected in both conceptual art and applied design (fashion, interior, design). These worlds overlap in a utopian quest for the essence of ‘the good life’ – or simply put: what does a person need to be happy? This search is expressed in a predilection for self-reliance and in the combination of pure materials with traditional techniques.

Various Belgian fashion designers — including Dirk Van Saene, Bruno Pieters, Christian Wijnants, Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Veronique Branquinho, Martin Margiela, Marina Yee, Jan-Jan Van Essche and Anne Kurris — give their individual interpretations to these thoughts: some by choosing specific fabrics and techniques, and others through their idiosyncratic position in fashion, in which they do not give praise to the hectic pace of the fashion world.

*******

De thematiek van het huiselijk geluk bij de schilder Rik Wouters, de intieme sfeer van geborgenheid tussen hem en zijn vrouw Nel, vormt het uitgangspunt voor deze tentoonstelling. Wouters was in onze gebieden de enige die de combinatie maakte van post-impressionistische schildertechnieken met eenvoudige huiselijke taferelen.

Zijn expressieve penseelstreken en de onafgewerkte stijl van de doeken geven een dynamiek aan zijn werk die samen met de nadruk op lichtinval en kleur resulteert in een betoverende en optimistische toon. Wouters’ leven bleef niet van moeilijkheden gespaard, maar in zijn werk komt het harmonische, ‘goede’ leven sterk naar voor. Zijn liefde voor Nel was een belangrijke drijfveer voor zijn werk en haar levensvreugde en energie inspireerden hem tot vele bekende doeken en sculpturen.

De hedendaagse beweging waarbij mensen weer op zoek gaan naar de huiselijke intimiteit en naar de natuur, de ‘slow’-beweging en de hernieuwde aandacht voor ambachtelijke technieken zoals keramiek, weven en verven, wordt in deze expo gekoppeld aan het utopische gedachtegoed van Henry David Thoreau’s boek Walden. Walden werd in 1854 gepubliceerd en stelde de niet-industriële, natuurlijke levenswijze voor als alternatief voor de overprikkelde consumptiemaatschappij. In de schilderkunst zien we ook halverwege de negentiende eeuw met het impressionisme een gelijkaardige omslag van bourgeois kunst naar meer verinnerlijking en de schoonheid van het natuurlijk leven, met nadruk op de lichtinval.

Het gegeven van shelter en geborgenheid komt vandaag zowel terug bij conceptuele kunstenaars als bij toegepaste ontwerpers (mode, interieur, design), waarbij deze werelden elkaar overlappen in de utopische zoektocht naar de essentie van ‘het goede leven’: wat heeft een mens nodig om gelukkig te zijn? Deze zoektocht uit zich in een voorliefde voor zelfredzaamheid, het werken met pure materialen en ambachtelijke technieken.

Verschillende Belgische modeontwerpers — o.a. Dirk Van Saene, Bruno Pieters, Christian Wijnants, Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Veronique Branquinho, Martin Margiela, Marina Yee, Jan-Jan Van Essche, Anne Kurris — geven op hun eigen manier vorm aan deze gedachten: sommigen door bepaalde keuzes van stoffen en technieken, anderen door hun eigengereide positie in het modeveld, waarbij geen toegiften worden gedaan aan het gejaagde ritme van de modewereld.

Deze tentoonstelling is een samenwerking tussen het MoMu – ModeMuseum Provincie Antwerpen en het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen naar aanleiding van het 100-jarig overlijden van de schilder Rik Wouters in 2016. De expo brengt werk van Rik Wouters uit de KMSKA-collectie samen met werk van hedendaagse kunstenaars en modeontwerpers.




ModeMuseum Provincie Antwerpen  - Rik Wauters - 17.09.2016-26.02.2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2016-09-07

4722 - 20170122 - BELGIË - BRUSSEL - The Power of the avant-garde - Now and Then - 29.09.2016-22.01.2017

.

Avant-garde is a concept that stems from both warfare and art. Avant-garde flourished in a society in full transition. Artists anticipate social revolutions. In visual art the heyday of the avant-garde is situated between 1895 and 1920, with the First World War as an international fault line. But how relevant is this pioneering art today? Around 15 leading contemporary artists enter into dialogue with colleagues from the historical avant-garde, from Ensor and Munch to the new movements just after the war. Today’s artists often feel a strong affinity with specific avant-garde works of art. Their choice and the dialogue with their own work forces us to look at these key works from modern art in a different light. The power of the avant-garde seems to have plenty more in reserve.

With works by, amongst others, Alexander Archipenko, Robert Delaunay, Marcel Duchamp, Fernand Léger, Kazimir Malevich, Franz Marc, Gino Severini in dialogue with David Claerbout, Marlene Dumas, William Forsythe, Gerhard Richter, Sean Scully and Luc Tuymans.

Curator: Ulrich Bischoff



 
BOZAR - The Power of the avant-garde - Now and Then - 29.09.2016 - 22.01.2017