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"Hieronymus Bosch 1450-1516: Only Opportunity to See So Many Works Together"
2001-09-01 until 2001-11-11
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Rotterdam, , NL Netherlands

The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is proud to present the most important exhibition ever devoted to this late-Medieval painter from the Netherlands. On view in Rotterdam are eighteen panels attributed to Hieronymus Bosch, including incomparable masterpieces such as The Ship of Fools (Musée du Louvre, Paris), The Death of a Miser (National Gallery of Art, Washington) and Saint John the Baptist (Fundacion Lazaro-Galdiano, Madrid). Together with seven undisputed authentic drawings, they form the core of the exhibition.

In addition, the exhibition encompasses a multitude of paintings from Bosch's workshop and his contemporaries. The continued fascination for Bosch's work is illustrated by the modern and contemporary works included in the exhibition by artists such as Bill Viola, Salvador Dalí, Jörg Immendorff, Robert Gober, Pipilotti Rist, William Kentridge and James Ensor. Rotterdam is the only venue for this exhibition, offering a unique opportunity to see so many works by Bosch together. This show is one of the highlights of Rotterdam 2001, Cultural Capital of Europe.

Together with seven undisputed authentic drawings, they form the core of the exhibition. In addition, the exhibition encompasses a multitude of paintings from Bosch's workshop and his contemporaries. The continued fascination for Bosch's work is illustrated by the modern and contemporary works included in the exhibition by artists such as Bill Viola, Salvador Dalí, Jörg Immendorff, Robert Gober, Pipilotti Rist, William Kentridge and James Ensor. Rotterdam is the only venue for this exhibition, offering a unique opportunity to see so many works by Bosch together. This show is one of the highlights of Rotterdam 2001, Cultural Capital of Europe.

Of all the painters of the late Middle Ages, Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450-1516) is one of the most intriguing. As the creator of a highly original and remarkable œuvre, often frightening because of the presence of devils and monsters and filled with peculiar symbols and satire, Hieronymus Bosch continues to appeal to the public today. His life is and remains a mystery, as does the meaning of his paintings. Bosch's fantasies have a universal appeal although each generation interprets his work differently.

Speculation

Little is known about Hieronymus Bosch's life, though it has been the subject of much speculation. He was born around 1450 as Hieronymus van Aken in 's-Hertogenbosch. He named himself after this Brabant city, where he lived and worked throughout his life. His father Antonius was also a painter. As a member of the Lieve Vrouwe Broederschap (Brotherhood of Our Lady) in 's-Hertogenbosch he designed an embroidery, a candelabrum and a stained-glass window for the chapel in the St Janskerk. Working there at the same time was Alart Duhameel, the master builder of the chapel and the late Gothic cathedral, which was then under construction. Archives reveal through tax records and other documents, information about financial transactions and family matters which indicate that Bosch led a comfortable life. The only commission for which there is documentary evidence is that by the Burgundian ruler, Philip the Fair, for a large altarpiece with 'The Last Judgment'.

Masterpieces

The authentic panels and drawings form the heart of the exhibition being centrally grouped in the exhibition space. Stemming from an original work by Bosch, a strand of the exhibition explores a particular facet of his œuvre, technique, style or motif, of contemporary culture or another theme. Among the paintings are masterpieces from European and American museums such as the Ecce Homo from the Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie in Frankfurt, The Cure of Folly from the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid and the four Visions of the Hereafter from the Palazzo Ducale in Venice. Saint John the Baptist from the Fundacion Lazaro-Galdiano in Madrid and Saint John on Patmos from the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin will be united for this occasion, as well as The Death of a Miser from the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the renowned Ship of Fools from the Musée du Louvre in Paris. The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna is lending its Christ Carrying the Cross and Child while the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen itself owns four original panels by Bosch, including The Pedlar - also known as The Vagabond or The Prodigal Son - and Saint Christopher. Among the seven drawings in pen and brown ink by Bosch are The Forest has Ears, The Field has Eyes from Berlin and The Tree-Man from the Graphische Sammlung Albertina in Vienna. Furthermore, there is an abundant selection of paintings by followers and copyists. Together with prints by artists who derived inspiration from Bosch, they provide an insight into the master's artistic influence and popularity in his time. That Bosch was held in high regard is clear from the number of distinguished patrons and the fact that in Brussels very costly, large wall tapestries of wool, gold thread and silk were produced after his depictions. Four of these tapestries are in Spanish royal possession and will travel to the exhibition: The Hay Wagon, the Garden of Earthly Delights and two scenes from the life of Saint Anthony.

Contemporaries

No matter how original and unconventional Hieronymus Bosch may have been, he was also part of the artistic tradition of his day. This is emphasised in the exhibition by presenting him within the context of the then urban culture; the transition from the late Gothic to the Renaissance. Included are paintings by such contemporaries as Dirk Bouts, Geertgen tot St. Jans, Gerard David and Jan Gossaert. The visitor comes closer still to Bosch through the extensive presentation of the cultural life of 's-Hertogenbosch around 1500; a city richer in silversmiths, book illuminators, builders and sculptors than painters. Original stone sculptures from the St Janskerk, work in precious metals, statues and illuminated manuscripts in combination with archeological findings such as everyday utensils and pilgrims' badges give an impression of the material culture and the artistic life in what was then called the 'rome en playsantelycke stadt' (a pious and pleasant city).

World of Imagination

Essentially, Bosch's works may be divided into two categories: religious and moralising, though they may overlap when religious scenes contain a moralising message. Like no other artist, Bosch created the most fantastic distant views and hellish, terrifying visions. Full of satire and irony, he gave expression to the good in people but most particularly to their bad traits. In an unrivalled manner, he understood the evil of the world. The hermits and saints, so often painted by Bosch, not only conveyed a narrative didactic religious message but also often contained a moralising message serving as admonitions to self-control. The significance of the hermit's life was the rejection of society and the withdrawal from all earthly vices. The lives and suffering of Christ and the saints also provided Bosch, as a religious artist, with subject matter. In the exhibition, the symbols and bizarre metaphors of Bosch's complex imaginary world are interpreted anew and elucidated. Prof. dr. Jos Koldeweij, curator of the exhibition states: 'A painting by Bosch is meant not only to look at, but also to read. I mean reading a visual language, for there is a rich pictorial vocabulary with which people were familiar at the time.' New investigation of the sources and iconographic interpretations help to gain insight into Bosch's view of the world, his manner of composing and his visual language, which is teeming with contrasts: virtue versus vice, the exalted alongside the obscene, the positive and the negative. Dendrochronological analysis - in which the growth rings in the wooden panels of his paintings are counted - and other technical investigations have yielded new findings with respect to the precise dating of Bosch's paintings on panel and his painting technique. Greater clarity has therefore been gained with regard to Bosch's original work and all the copies produced by others on panel and on paper.

Contemporary and Modern Art

Throughout the centuries, Bosch has captivated artists, not just the Surrealists and fantastic realists. For example, Bill Viola made a video entitled The Quintet of the Astonished (1999), inspired by Bosch's Christ Crowned with Thorns (National Gallery, London). For some Bosch's œuvre is a source of inspiration while others succeed in evoking an atmosphere in the spirit of the great Medieval master. This timeless fascination is reflected in the unique structure of the exhibition. As a prelude and epilogue, the work of modern and contemporary artists is presented, including that of Bill Viola, Jörg Immendorf, Robert Gober, Pipilotti Rist and William Kentridge, as well as classic modernists such as Salvador Dalí and James Ensor.

Publications

Much research was undertaken in the preparation of the exhibition, in particular by Prof. dr. Jos Koldeweij, an expert in the area of art and the applied arts of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance at the University of Nijmegen. The Flemish Bosch specialist dr. Paul Vandenbroeck of the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp was also closely involved as was the guest curator at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, drs. Bernard Vermet who made an important contribution. They are the authors of the catalogue accompanying the exhibition, published by NAi Publishers in Rotterdam and Ludion in Amsterdam. The catalogue is available in Dutch, English, French, German and Italian (DFL 59.50/ ? 27.00). A separate, English publication is devoted to the technical research, with more scientific contributions by Prof. dr. Van Schoute and Prof. dr. Verougstraete from Louvain-la-Neuve and dr. Klein from Hamburg (DFL 79.50/ ? 36.08).

Bosch Website

To complement the exhibition, a special Bosch website has been developed: www.BoschUniverse.com. This website, comprising educational and historical information, also features the interactive Hieronymus Bosch Adventure Game. Players can 'open' world-famous triptychs and zoom in on the many bizarre details that typify his paintings. The game's final goal is Bosch's heaven or hell.

IMAGE:
Christ Carrying the Cross
oil on panel
150 x 94 cm
Palacio Real, Madrid


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