The complex oeuvre of the American artist Cy Twombly (1928-2011) comprises a time period of around six decades, during which it never lost any of its expressive power. Twombly was one of the most productive artists in the history of more recent art. Acclaimed as one of the most important painters of the second half of the 20th century, he fused the legacy of American Abstract Expressionism with European and Mediterranean culture. The book focuses to a degree never before seen on his major cycles: Nine Discourses on Commodus (1963), Fifty Days at Iliam (1978), and Coronation of Sesostris (2000). The artist’s development as a whole is traced based on nearly 200 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and photographs. This thus provides unique insights into the overall intellectual and sensual richness of the oeuvre. From his early works at the beginning of the 1950s, which are characterised by the use of text, to his compositions of the 1960s, his reaction to the minimal art and conceptual art of the 1970s to his final paintings, the overview of the oeuvre underscores the significance of the series and cycles in which Cy Twombly invented history painting anew. With its polyphonic conception, the monograph offers numerous approaches with essays that shed light on the various aspects and phases of Twombly’s path as an artist. It comprises et al. the reflections and personal impressions of other artists as well as the memories of his assistant Nicola Del Roscio. These diverse testimonies make it possible to discover Cy Twombly not only as an artist, but also as an individual.
Painter, illustrator, sculptor, Screenplay author, journalist, costume and stage designer: The renowned Georgian artist Rezo Gabriadse (*1936) is all this and much more. Life itself is always at the centre of his oeuvre, with the tragi-comical moments of everyday existence that he captures in many different ways, through his enormously intentive spirit, his creative powers and his intelligence. Throughout “a delicate, melancholy undertone runs through the creations of this gentle poet, like a cantus fimrus,” writes Michael Semff. Gabriadze’s paintings and the gouaches, which tend toward the painterly, comprise the centrepiece of this richly illustrated volume. The art of a great man, whose works have already been seen in famous museums like the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Dostoyevsky Museum in Moscow, the Pushkin Museum and the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich. This multi-talent has drawn international attention, especially since opening his puppet theatre in Tiflis in 1981. This allowed him to fulfill one of his dearest wishes: to create a small universe in which all of the creative strings are held by his own hand, so to speak.
James Bishop can be called the only real painter of his generation still alive. He has developed a unique, poetic, and sensitive visual vocabulary, and describes himself as “an Abstract Expressionist of the quieter kind.” Bishop likes to have his art speak for him, as he believes it has a language of its own: “Artists should neither be seen nor heard, with the exception of opera singers, of course.” Although Bishop began his career with stronger colours on large canvases, which speak for themselves, he soon turned to earth tones, and then later greys in square, mostly unmodified, smaller formats. This tendency toward reduction has remained constant from the 1960s until just recently, especially with regard to individual works on paper. Bishop has been on a persistent search for an aesthetic balance among opposing factors: drawing and painting, opacity and transparency, two and three dimensions, open forms and simple tectonic elements. In his work he has succeeded in compellingly interweaving these opposing forces into a subtle tonal relationship, creating a miniature-like, intimate aura.
Contents: Emotional viewing – by Erich Franz; “Bishop’s Expressiveness” by Molly Warnock; Biography; Exhibition List.
Text in English and German.
Leng Bingchuan: Master of Chinese Black and White Painting is the most comprehensive collection of ink paintings he has created so far, containing his 256 works from 1980 to 2000. Through these works, we can see the author’s self-conscious pursuit of the theme, his straightforward, pure, strong and distinct characteristics, reflecting the spirit and charm of oriental art. With its unique cover design, Leng Bingchuan: Master of Chinese printmaking and Engraving also implies the design concept of minimalism.
Magritte, Bacon, Ensor, Moore, Jordaens, Rubens … These were just some of the world-famous names on display at the MAS. The not-to-be-missed exhibition ‘Rare and Indispensable’ brought a unique selection of masterpieces from the Flemish masterpiece list and has been captured here in this accompanying catalogue. Works of art you normally would have to travel all over Flanders to see, or which were never even publicly accessible, could be temporarily admired in one museum hall. All in honour of the 20th anniversary of the ‘Flemish Masterpiece Decree’.
‘Rare and Indispensable‘ was an absolute must-see that took the visitor on an art-historical walk along several masterpieces from Flemish collections. Some 35 large and small museums, as well as churches, libraries and private collectors temporarily lended masterpieces from their collections. All of them works that have been included in the Flemish Masterpiece List since 2003.
Famous paintings by Hugo van der Goes, Rubens, Jordaens, Ensor, Magritte and Bacon, sculptures by Lucas Faydherbe and Henry Moore, as well as precious silver, medieval manuscripts and a rare piece of furniture by Pierre Gole, ébeniste du roi of the French king Louis XIV, were available to be admired in one place at the same time.
Curators Thomas Leysen and Ben Van Beneden, members of the ‘Topstukkenraad’ (Masterpiece council), selected all the masterpieces for this exhibition.
The dramatic landscape photographs of Saskia Boelsums manifest a strong connection to the Dutch tradition of landscape paintings. She is inspired by nature, weather, and the seasons, with clouds and skies characterised by moody chiaroscuro and painterly monumentality. The reality of the changing climate, and what this will mean for the future, is a theme that runs throughout her work. She captures not only the beauty of the landscape, but also a vague sense of uncertainty and threat. As she says: “It looks like the classic historical Dutch landscapes and skies are being pushed out by landscapes and skies that are the result of climate change. I am very aware of that tension.” “I am photographing when most people think the weather is too bad to go outside. By exploring different landscapes in all four seasons, I feel strongly connected to the universe. That feeling I’m trying to pass on through my landscape photos.” – Saskia Boelsums.
Artist Ellen Marie harks back to the craft of the old masters. A technical style she perfected at the Barcelona Academy of Art. Lux Æterna, Latin for ‘Eternal Light’, is a series of 57 paintings in which we follow the process of a man on his way to self-realisation.
In the first act, we find him writhing in agony, tormented by a blindfold, which prevents him from seeing the light that surrounds him. In act two the blindfold has come off and gradually a dance unfolds, a dialogue between the light falling on his body and the life forces welling up from within him. In the third act, blobs of paint splash from the canvas. The form falls apart and transmutes into an unrecognisable mass that contains merely the suggestion of a figure. In the last part our man finally finds kinship with like-minded souls bathing in the divine light.
The story visualises the artist’s inner quest for Truth, Light and Freedom. The thematic repetition gave her the opportunity to deepen the technical aspect of oil paint and to experiment. Art critic Koen Van Damme composed five accompanying poems.
Text in English and Dutch.