Claude Monet, 1867
Because of renovations in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, part of its collection is travelling around. That was a good opportunity for the Gemeentemuseum to combine some of these works with a few other loans and with paintings of its own collection of the period 1885-1914.
Claude Monet, 1867
The exhibition Colour Unleashed aims to show the influence of French impressionist and postimpressionist painting on Belgian and Dutch painters in the way of using bright colours. It results in a very colourful show indeed, starting with some founding fathers of modernism like Monet,
Paul Cézanne
Vincent van Gogh, 1890
artistic patriarchs like Cézanne and Van Gogh and their artistic sons like
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Kees van Dongen, 1903
Kees van Dongen, 1903
Matisse and Van Dongen (clearly this is one of the less colourful paintings).
Piet Mondrian, 1909
A restoration project has been linked to the exhibition and so this Mondrian has been cleaned and looks very fresh now.
James Ensor, 1882
This both intimate and monumental scene by the young James Ensor is present as well, as is
Théo van Rysselberghe, 1891
Théo van Rysselberghe, 1891
one of my favourites, this portrait by Van Rysselberghe.
James Ensor, 1890
James Ensor, 1890
James Ensor, 1890
Another great favourite from Antwerp is of course this Ensor, which is exhibited
Willem Paerels, 1909
Willem Paerels, 1909
Willem Paerels, 1909
in the same room as this much lesser known but very interesting work by Paerels.
Jan Sluijters, 1907
Jan Sluijters, 1907
Jan Sluijters, 1907
This amazingly brilliant Sluijters has been cleaned and restored too.
Jacoba van Heemskerck, 1908/10
Jacoba van Heemskerck, 1908/10
Van Heemskerck is one of the very few female artists in the exhibition.
Piet Mondrian, 1907
Of course the Gemeentemuseum’s own Red Cloud by Mondrian can’t be absent.
Rik Wouters, 1913
Rik Wouters, 1912
Rik Wouters, 1912
Rik Wouters
Great and nice surprise is that one room is completely dedicated to one of the greatest Flemish painters of the period: Rik Wouters.
Rik Wouters, 1915
There are two more paintings by Wouters in the next room, one of them is this self portrait.
Else Berg, 1911/12
But the surprises may also be small like this landscape by Berg.
Leo Gestel, 1914
There are more paintings by Gestel on show, this is one of them.
Jan Sluijters, 1913
In the same room is this somewhat Kandinskyesque Sluijters.
Berend Zweers, 1905/10
To complete the story there is a mixture of paintings and other items on show in the cabinets. Like this rare autochrome original from the early history of colour photography, or
this letter of Georges Lemmen to Jan Toorop.
Emile Claus, 1905
There are, amongst many other different items, this strangely romantic painting,
Floris Verster, 1907
this late impressionist one,
Johan Thorn Prikker, 1905
this exquisite chalk drawing,
Jan Toorop, 1908
this small panel and
this reminder of how the colourful modernist dream changed into Europe’s first horrible trauma of the new age. Let’s hope it is not a bad omen in this otherwise wonderful autumn show.
T.A.C. Colenbrander, 1923
[Click on the pictures to enlarge]
Bertus Pieters
Villa Next Door 