Sanguine / Bloedrood

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    During the cultural city festival Antwerp Baroque 2018. Rubens Inspires, the M HKA, the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, juxtaposes the spirit of the baroque masters with the vision of contemporary top artists. With the exhibition Sanguine/Bloedrood (Blood Red), curator Luc Tuymans aims to overwhelm the visitor by placing key works from the baroque of, among others, Francisco de Zurbarán and Caravaggio, in dialogue with works by classical contemporary masters, such as On Kawara and Edward Kienholz, as well as new works by contemporary stars such as Zhang Enli, Takashi Murakami, Michaël Borremans, Sigmar Polke and Tobias Rheberger. 

    antwerpenbarok2018.be

    Sanguine/Bloedrood. Luc Tuymans on Baroque

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    Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Gent (MSK) © www.lukasweb.be - Art in Flanders vzw, foto Hugo Maertens 
    Studies van de kop van Abraham Grapheus, 1620
    Jacob Jordaens
    Painting , 45.2 x 52 cm
    oil on paper, glued on a wooden panel

    In this fascinating study of colour and light, Jordaens presents the expressive face of Grapheus in two slightly different poses. The artist indulges in the juxtaposition of pink, ocher yellow and light yellow touches that remain recognizable as such - a free handling of paint that will later appeal to the imagination of the Impressionists. Grapheus posed many times for the painter, who depicts him head-on and in profile, looking up, looking down and viewed from below. In some cases these sessions end up in strange grimace-making bouts.  

    Jordaens uses the red-faced appearance of his friend in numerous paintings, as a writing evangelist in The Four Evangelists (Paris, Louvre, c. 1625-30) and as a shepherd in The Adoration by the Shepherds (Paris, Louvre, c. 1650). In response to the constrained and predictable visual language of the Romanists and Rubens' heroics, Jordaens and the six-year-younger Van Dyck revitalise the mythological, biblical and historical repertoire by populating it with characters of flesh and blood. Working with studies after living models is instrumental in this artistic revolution.

    Text: Nico Van Hout, 2018

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