EXHIBITION SPOTLIGHT

We hope you’ve all had an opportunity to see the DMA’s presentation of Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks , which opened in February. Organized by the Denver Art Museum in collaboration with The Phoebus Foundation, Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools illustrates the remarkable developments in art production that took place in Flanders from the 1400s through the 1600s. This traveling exhibition explores a rich repertoire of themes that reflect the societal changes of the time, while also adeptly mirroring contemporary circumstances surrounding the human condition. Below is an interview with curator of the exhibition Dr. Katharina Van Cauteren, Chief of Staff of The Phoebus Foundation, conducted by the DMA’s Chief Curatorial and Research Officer Dr. Nicole R. Myers, the coordinating curator at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Nicole Myers: The Phoebus Foundation collects several different kinds of art, from historic lace to 20th-century modernism. Where did the focus on building an extraordinary collection of Flemish old masters come from?

Katharina Van Cauteren: If you live in Belgium, it's hard to ignore its rich cultural past. In the late Middle Ages, cities like Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, and Ghent were like today’s New York City or Silicon Valley. There was a particularly robust mercantile spirit, and money wants to roll. The tiny region became a breeding ground for top art, producing such world-famous names as Hans Memling, Peter Paul Rubens, and Anthony Van Dyck.

Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks is co-organized by the Denver Art M useum and The Phoebus Foundation, Antwerp (Belgium).

Ever since then, collecting has been pretty much in the Belgians' blood. So when Antwerp entrepreneur Ferdinand Huts earned his first pennies with his port company, Katoen Natie, he also bought his first works of art. After a while, the collection was so large and so important that it was decided to transfer it entirely to a professionally run art foundation. That’s how The Phoebus Foundation came into being.

NM: Visitors to the exhibition will notice that it’s not a typical old master show. What inspired your fresh approach to this traditional material?

KVC: The Flemish old masters were not typical either! During the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, they were like the visionaries of their time, exploring new themes, inventing new genres, new artistic styles even! Therefore, it seemed only natural that we would try to live up to that. We decided to deal with the scenography the same way it was dealt with back then, with considerable attention to spectacle and drama, by celebrating the glamour of the Baroque, of Rubens and his contemporaries. The minute you walk into the exhibition, you are transported back in time, into the spellbinding realm of the old masters.

NM: If there is one thing that you hope our audience learns about Flemish art, what would that be?

KVC: As a curator, I don't look at these Flemish old masters from the standpoint of whether I think they are beautiful. I do, however, always start from the question of why these paintings look the way they do. Why did an artist paint this subject? Why did he use this particular style? When you do that, a work of art very quickly becomes a window into the past. It's about religion, politics, economics. It's about people with fears and dreams, desires and ambitions, about fear of death or love for a child. These paintings may have been made a long time ago, but nothing has actually changed. And that fascinates me every time. Flemish art is about you and me, and about what it means to be human.

NM: Alongside its exhibitions, The Phoebus Foundation has a robust conservation research program. What is the most exciting treatment or discovery you’ve made within the Flemish collection?

KVC: Our conservation team and their atelier form an indispensable part of The Phoebus Foundation. The team of experts consistently ensure the immaculate restoration of each work of art that enters or exits our warehouse. But sometimes they face surprises. In the last room of the exhibition, you see a painting showing a proud couple amid their collection of paintings. Or so it seems anyway! Because it actually turns out that this couple has hijacked an already existing painting. X-rays showed that beneath this man and woman are actually several other gentlemen. These men were painted over during the 17th century so that Mr. and Mrs. could pretend to be the proud owners of this fine collection. And we believed it for 300 years, until research finally betrayed them.

NM: And finally, the question that strikes fear in every curator’s heart: what is your favorite artwork in the exhibition and why?

KVC: Having to choose a favorite painting is like asking who your favorite child is—you can't choose! But I would like to make an exception for The Garden of Eden with the Four Elements by my good friend Hendrick de Clerck. I can call him that since I devoted six years of doctoral research to him. De Clerck painted for the highest nobility of Europe. Even more, this work is actually pure political propaganda for the Habsburg archdukes Albrecht and Isabella. The painting shows Eve tempting Adam, but not to worry, the archdukes will bring the four elements back into perfect balance and restore paradise in Flanders. Of course, they didn't really do that, but it did lead to a masterpiece by Hendrick de Clerck!