This is without doubt one of the finest exhibitions on show in The Hague at the moment.
Photographer Popel Coumou (1978) has made an installation for the Fotomuseum (Museum for Photography) in which she focuses on the modern architecture of the next door Kunstmuseum (formerly Gemeentemuseum) and the Fotomuseum itself.
At the same time she shows the way she works, which very much implies the use of paper and light, as the title of the show suggests.
Basically she makes paper collages of architecture, of which she makes photographs, as she also does with handmade still-lives.
That already gives a different idea of what reality, space and architecture are.
In this show she presents amongst others the collages themselves, with light shining through them, heightening the illusion of real space and architecture.
On the other hand she has also made life-sized collages in the exhibition space itself, by which, as a visitor, you become part of this world of illusionistic architecture.
Her work is firmly based on an essentialist modernism in which all redundant elements are eliminated.
Sharp graphic lines and abstraction define her works.
Nevertheless, and in the best modernist tradition, her work is full of wonder.
Her works also come to life in this show because of the changing light, which is, of course, part of architecture and space in general too.
Struck by the work, the show took me far more time than i expected.
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As i have written quite extensively in VLR about the show, i just leave you here with some pictures of details, which can be seen as some extra illustrations to the text in VLR.
Most of the Caravaggios on show have a history of doubt. They are enthusiastically added to the list of the master’s works or they are mercilessly deleted. Caravaggio’s oeuvre seems to be either expanding or shrinking every now and then (well, like any old master’s). The famous Narcissus seems to have got a definitive roof over its head in Caravaggio’s house, after having been attributed to others, Spadarino amongst others. And what is definitive in art history? Now it shares its place as a frontispiece with Bernini’s Medusa for the exhibition Caravaggio – Bernini: Baroque in Rome at the Rijksmuseum. .
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Musei Capitolini, Rome
The exhibition shows works by Caravaggio and Bernini and especially by their followers and competitors. Amongst them some really great masters, whose fame only just survived the big shadows of the two great masters who have become iconic for the early Baroque period in Rome.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Musei Capitolini, Rome
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Musei Capitolini, Rome
François Duquesnoy, Galleria Sabauda, Turin
Amongst others the Brabantian sculptor François Duquesnoy, who arrived in Rome when he was around 20 years old and stayed there for the rest of his life
François Duquesnoy, Galleria Sabauda, Turin
Nicolas Régnier, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Simon Vouet, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon
Look at this amazing self-portrait of Simon Vouet how he painted his collar. It’s just white paint and still it’s a collar.
Simon Vouet, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon
François Duquesnoy, Palazzo Barberini, Rome
François Duquesnoy, Palazzo Barberini, Rome
(detail) Simon Vouet, Musée Réattu, Arles
Another great Vouet. Not just the expression of the sitter may strike you but also the way his cloths are painted with sketchy sprezzatura. It may remind you of Frans Hals.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Uffizi, Florence
One of the few but famous self-portraits by Bernini. Bernini, whose great example was Michelangelo, was not just a great sculptor, he was also an architect, a stage designer, director and actor and a talented painter, although – like Michelangelo – he preferred sculpture as a matter of principle.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Louvre, Paris
Francesco Mochi, Art Institute of Chicago
attributed to Domenichino, Art Gallery, York
attributed to Domenichino, Art Gallery, York
Caravaggio, private collection, Florence
This portrait of Maffeo Barberini is said to be by Caravaggio. According to the catalogue it is regarded as a real Caravaggio, based on “many arguments.” Whatever the arguments are, personally i think that if it is by Caravaggio it must be one of his very first ventures in portraiture, or it is a copy of a lost original by Caravaggio.
Andrea Sacchi, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Giuliano Finelli, Metropolitan Museum, New York
This bust of Scipione Borghese by Giuliano Finelli is said to be ordered by the sitter in competition with Bernini’s now famous bust of Scipione (in the Villa Borghese in Rome). Like in Bernini’s bust the cardinal seems to have had problems with his buttons and buttonholes.
Giuliano Finelli, Metropolitan Museum, New York
Carlo Saraceni, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
It is a good thing that the exhibition doesn’t show just examples of masterpieces, although one could ask what this misfit by Carlo Saraceni is doing here, especially since there is a much more convincing Saraceni elsewhere in the exhibition.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, private collection, Rome
Hendrick de Keyser
This Boy stung by a bee by Hendrick de Keyser is a little extra by the Rijksmuseum, as De Keyser didn’t work in Rome and he is not in the catalogue.
Orazio Borgianni, Real Academia de San Fernando, Madrid
(detail) Valentin de Boulogne, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, private collection, Florence
One of the surprises of the exhibition is this St. Cecilia by Francesco Mochi, which almost looks like a Futurist sculpture.
Francesco Mochi, private collection, England
Francesco Mochi, Galleria Pallavicini, Rome
Francesco Mochi, Galleria Pallavicini, Rome
Francesco Mochi, Galleria Pallavicini, Rome
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, private collection
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, private collection
Ludovico Carracci, Getty Museum, Los Angeles
2nd century AD Roman torso completed by François Duquesnoy, British Museum, London
In those days archaeology of the Roman past and its restoration had become a serious cultural business. Remains of antique sculpture were restored and completed by great sculptors, like this Faun whose limbs and head were sculpted by François Duquesnoy.
2nd century AD Roman torso completed by François Duquesnoy, British Museum, London
2nd century AD Roman torso completed by François Duquesnoy, British Museum, London
2nd century AD Roman torso completed by François Duquesnoy, British Museum, London
Orazio Gentileschi, Galleria Nazionale della Liguria, Genoa
Orazio Gentileschi, Galleria Nazionale della Liguria, Genoa
Spadarino, Museum and Art Gallery, Perth – Scotland
This impressive Spadarino was also on show in last year’s exhibition of the Caravaggisti at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, where i made this picture (click here for the report).
Caravaggio, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
From here on i realised i had only very little time left as i had spent the morning and part of the early afternoon at the Stedelijk to see the Nam June Paik retrospective (see reports here in Dutch and here in English) , and as it was increasingly difficult to take a look at all interesting items of the exhibition and to keep a five feet social distance and to make some pictures which would give some idea of what i found to be interesting. So i decided to skip the photographing.
Caravaggio, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
That’s why the ending of this photo report is a bit of an anti-climax.
1st century AD Roman sculpture restored by Alessandro Algardi, private collection, Chicago
1st century AD Roman sculpture restored by Alessandro Algardi, private collection, Chicago
1st century AD Roman sculpture restored by Alessandro Algardi, private collection, Chicago
Caravaggio, Galleria Corsini, Rome
Caravaggio, Museo Civico, Cremona
It is a very full and detailed exhibition (which was made in co-operation with the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna) and i can only advise you to visit it, as far as possible and as far as wise, taking into account the upsurge of the Corona virus in Amsterdam.
Guido Reni, Galleria Nazionale della Liguria, Genoa
This great retrospective of one of the most fascinating artists of the last quarter of the last century happened to be opened just before Covid-19 restrictions were implemented. Now, after reopening, the exhibition was obviously not prepared for the restrictions we still have. In the mean time the museum and its visitors are trying to make the best of it.
As i have written quite extensively in VLR about the exhibition, i just leave you here with some impressions.
The show is in its last week, so you have to hurry if you don’t want to miss it. And do bear in mind that you have to make an online reservation!
Though he wasn’t born in The Hague, he lived for a major part of his life in this town and undeniably left his artistic marks here.
There have been retrospectives of his work in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and even twice in Dordrecht, but in spite of that Verdijk has only become a household name to very few artists and art lovers.
The present exhibition – recently reopened when anti-corona measures were alleviated a bit, difficult to find on the museum’s website, and unclear in how long it will be there – may give a clue to that underrating.
Almost each work on show has the magic to suck you into the intimacy of its composition, such that you may even feel a voyeur; that is, if you really surrender to these works.
I have no idea how long these works will be on show, so hurry to see them!
The Mauritshuis is not a big museum but it has one of the most wonderful collections of 17th century painting (and more) in this country.
Willem van de Velde II
Paulus Potter
Aelbert Cuyp
Before the Corona crisis it was quite easy to walk in with a museum card, just for a lunchtime visit, to see your favourites, discover new favourites or some interesting details.
Jacob van Ruisdael
Meindert Hobbema
Jan van de Cappelle
Within half an hour you can see just enough masterpieces to get on with life for another few months.
Jacob van Ruisdael
Karel Dujardin
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin
Now, of course, you have to make a reservation for a certain time of the day, there is no real time slot, because once in, you can take all your time.
Frans Post
Albert Eckhout
In every room a maximum number of people are allowed in, and corridors in between the rooms are closed.
Frans Post
Adriaen Coorte
So, with the tourist season started, it sometimes takes some patience to enter the rooms.
Adriaen Coorte
Willem van de Velde II
Rembrandt van Rijn
On the other hand, visitors seem to have more attention for individual paintings.
Rembrandt van Rijn
Salomon van Ruysdael
Jan de Bray
It may be a terrible loss for the museum to miss so many visitors, but the atmosphere has improved enormously.
Pieter Claesz
Hendrick ter Brugghen
After all, a museum is not a supermarket.
Judith Leyster
Quiringh van Brekelenkam
Gerard ter Borch
Very happy to be there again, i made a lot of pictures of which i made a selection to show you.
Jan Brueghel I & Peter Paul Rubens
Some are mere details, like the frog by Paulus Potter (3rd photo), which is part of his famous painting The Young Bull of 1647.
Willem Buytewech
Jacob van Campen
Hendrick Avercamp
One of the paintings i try to see every visit is The Herding Boy (9th photo), a small work by Karel Dujardin (1622-1678).
Willem Claesz Heda
Clara Peeters
It‘s not a big deal really, but for one reason or another i’m always attracted to it.
Jacob Jordaens
Peter Paul Rubens
attributed to Jacopo de’ Barbari
Alas, at the moment you can only see it with either reflections in the glass over it, or covered by your own shadow.
Michel Sittow
Hans Holbein II
Hans Holbein II
Other works i’m always happy to see are the small collection of portraits by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) (photos 39, 40, 42 and 43), surely one of the very greatest painters of the Northern Renaissance.
Joachim Wtewael
Hans Holbein II
Hans Holbein II
Seeing them i usually forget about Rubens, Rembrandt and the whole lot.
The Mauritshuis museum says on its website that George Stubbs (1724-1806) belongs in England “without any doubt, in the panthenon [sic!} of eminent eighteenth-century British artists like Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough and J.M.W. Turner.” Apart from the fact that Turner (1775-1851) – although he grew up in 18th century – is generally regarded as a 19th century romantic, one can wonder if this is meant to be a compliment.
Reynolds was without any doubt a good portrait painter, but his portraits are for their contents only interesting for those who are not bored with flattering images of self-indulgent, haughty people. But anyway, the English and the visual arts seem to be married in loving misunderstanding.
Stubbs was a painter who studied the anatomy of horses. Horses of the nobility that is. They all seem to be full-blooded and shiny.
Probably Stubbs’s greatest achievement is his book The Anatomy of the Horse of 1766. The Mauritshuis shows some of his wonderful, comprehensive illustrations.
They are drawn with great care, curiosity and dedication.
He painted his horses with the same great care, but in his paintings horses also become objects of representation, property.
They are shiny and perfect in their tamed wildness and anxiety, even in their eroticism, which is somewhere in between the male and female.
They have become symbols of civilisation, of how the English tamed the World.
The landscapes around them are mere decors, and don’t seem to have any influence on the glowing perfection of the horses.
Although Stubbs was also interested in other living creatures (and their anatomies) his portraits of horses became very popular amongst the rich.
Imagine a millionaire who wants a portrait of his best Maserati or of his private jet.
To be short: the drawings are great, the horses are well painted with great knowledge, the paintings themselves, as paintings, are uninteresting.
The second leg of the tour leads along the permanent exhibition about Mondrian and De Stijl and the great solo show of Lucassen.
Bart van der Leck
Of course the KM is famous for its Mondrian collection, works by other De Stijl artists and their contemporaries.
Piet Mondrian
Usually i take that exhibition for granted.
I’ve seen it a few times, it’s good to know that it’s there and that’s it.
Piet Mondrian
As following the Mondrian Route means it is obligatory to see the De Stijl & Mondrian section, i took the opportunity to check if my favourites are still there.
Again, under the tranquillity of the Covid-19 measures at the museum, it was a great joy to see these works in all their preciousness again, without the pressure of any other visitors who may disturb your attention.
Bart van der Leck
After all, art watching is an egotistic activity.
Bart van der Leck
Vilmos Huszár
At best it’s you and the work of art, and nobody in between or around.
Piet Mondrian
Lucassen
However, i couldn’t spend much time there as i needed time for the Lucassen show. Reinier Lucassen (1939) has built an impressive oeuvre of paintings.
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
He started in the 1960s as an artist who combined elements of figurative and abstract art and of high art and consumer culture, like other artists in the Netherlands and Belgium, usually called Nieuwe figuratie (New Figuration).
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
In the case of Lucassen it has become an art intermingled with the beauty of the banal and the absurd.
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen’s work is also linguistic, as such it may be even more mysterious to a non-Dutch speaker than it is for a Batavophone.
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
As usual in these big shows at the KM there is an overload of works.
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
The works are not presented chronologically.
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
To an extent, that works, as mutual correlations between the paintings of different periods may become clear.
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
On the other hand, after watching intensely (which is now really possible!) for some time, one gets the idea of getting a bit dizzy of all these different voices that shout, sing and whisper at you.
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
To be short about visiting the KM at the moment: it is now possible to really look at the works intensely, or even reflect on them while looking, which is great and unique for this period of the crisis.
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
However, as the exhibitions are quite big – apart from Navid Nuur’s, although his is big in its reflective content – you need to plan ahead what you really want to see.
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
Lucassen
Otherwise you may not fall victim to the Covid-19 virus but to the Stendhal syndrome.
There are very strict restrictions to enter and to move around in the museum.
A.R. Penck
Reservations have to be made online for a two hours timeslot, there is an obligatory choice between two routes and only one-way traffic is possible, but generally everything is very well organised and staff seem to be more friendly than usual.
A.R. Penck
A.R. Penck
The two routes are the so-called Berlage Route and the Mondrian Route.
Although two hours were obviously not enough for me, i very much enjoyed seeing all these works in real.
A.R. Penck
A.R. Penck
Because of the restrictions and the maximum number of visitors (which is indicated for every room) i had a very tranquil afternoon.
A.R. Penck
A.R. Penck
No crowds of people who are in your way, just silence and very little noise of another visitor now and then, that’s how i like it! In this report you see some aspects of the first leg of my tour: A.R. Penck (1939-2017) and Navid Nuur (1976).
A.R. Penck
A.R. Penck
I am planning a review for Villa la Repubblica (in Dutch) about at least one of the three not-permanent shows, so keep yourself posted!
A.R. Penck
A.R. Penck
As for A.R. Penck: I saw his work first in a solo show somewhere in the 1970s in the Boijmans Museum in Rotterdam (digitally i can’t find any reference to that exhibition).
A.R. Penck
That was quite an experience to me as an adolescent (which, i must say, is quite a broad definition in my case).
A.R. Penck
A.R. Penck
His works were exhibited on partitions, creating small rooms where you were confronted with his graffiti.
A.R. Penck
A.R. Penck
It was both artistically and for its presentation a revelation to me. Now he has become one of the classics of German art.
A.R. Penck
The present show at the KM is quite a big retrospective.
A.R. Penck
A.R. Penck
It has all the pros and cons of such a blockbuster.
A.R. Penck
A.R. Penck
It is quite overwhelming, and even some huge paintings were pushed into the very inner of the museum in one way or another.
A.R. Penck
A few smaller parts of the show are closed because of the corona measures, but, as it’s such a big show, you don’t really miss that.
A.R. Penck
A.R. Penck
I felt privileged having all these works practically for my own.
A.R. Penck
A.R. Penck
Navid Nuur
No idea how old Navid Nuur was when i saw my first Penck exhibition, but the times of revelations seem to be far behind us.
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur
After the savagery of Penck’s painting Nuur offers you more introspection in the KM’s so-called project space.
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur
Nuur shows you the almost eternal life of dead matter, its transformation into minerals, into life, into light, into history, into philosophy, permeating and indeed being part of us and the rest of the world.
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur, Philip Galle, Pieter Bruegel
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur
He has made a fine ensemble out of it.
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur
Another visitor walked around in the room as well, reading her booklet about the show, when at last she asked me if i understood it.
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur
To me that is a question of conscience, for, as an art historian, one knows all too well that one can never fully understand a work of art…..
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur
Navid Nuur
Next leg of the tour (Mondrian & De Stijl and Lucassen) is in the next report. Click here to get there.
