Time travelling through the collection: the resurrection of painting.

Hubris

Hubris (ὕβρις) is an ancient Greek word indicating overwhelming pride, haughtiness, or arrogance resulting in fatal retribution. The word was used to describe actions of those who challenged the gods or their laws, especially in Greek tragedy, resulting in the protagonist’s downfall.

Harlem Mannerism

At the end of the 16th century, several painters in Haarlem adopted a style that is now called mannerism: in the Italian way, or maniera. The figures in their paintings strike lively poses and make broad, sometimes seemingly exaggerated gestures.
The most important Haarlem mannerists are Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1616), who was famous for his prints, Karel van Mander (1548-1606), painter and writer of The Paint Book [Het Schilder-Boeck] and Cornelis van Haarlem (1562-1638).
Cornelis van Haarlem painted enormous canvases, filled with countless figures in complicated poses. This resulted in intriguing and impressive compositions, much appreciated in Haarlem. As a result, the painter was awarded important commissions.
The style was at its height in the period 1590-1615. After that, the figures in the compositions became less fluid and the paintings make a more classical impression.

Wim Beeren

After studying art history in Nijmegen in the 1950s, Wim Beeren first held the position of curator at The Hague Municipal Museum. In 1965, he moved to the Stedelijk Museum. Here he organised the famous exhibition Op losse schroeven [Everything’s unsettled] (1969). In 1971 he organised Sonsbeek buiten de Perken [Sonsbeek off the beaten track]. In the 70s, he turned his back on the world of museums in order to lecture at the University of Groningen. In 1978, he returned as director of Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum. In 1985 he was appointed director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, a position he held until 1993.

In 2006, a book was published about his life and work edited by Jan van Adrichem: Wim Beeren - Om de Kunst, with contributions by various authors and articles by Beeren himself.

Sandro Chia

Sandra Chia (Florence, 1946) is an Italian artist who was all the rage from the end of the ‘seventies of the 20th century. Together with Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Nicola de Maria and Mimmo Paladino, he formed the Italian ‘Trans Vanguards’. The term implies that the artists had left the modern avant-garde behind them. In their work, they concentrated more on traditional (Italian) themes and painting techniques.

Ixion Falling Down

When this painting was purchased in 1980, it did not have a frame. A designer was thus asked to make a profile for a frame. In 1995, a decision was taken to restore the painting. It had been rather extensively painted over, probably in the 19th century. When this took place, motives using examples from a print by Goltzius were added to the painting. During the restoration, all additions and overpaints were removed and damages were repaired. This resulted in an painting that once again largely reflected the one Cornelis van Haarlem had painted in 1588.
After the restoration, a frame was made using a profile from 1611-1613. The original frames of paintings by Hendrick Goltzius, now owned by the Maurits House in The Hague, acted as examples for this. These paintings, Minerva and Mercurius, have now been loaned indefinitely to the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem.

Hendrick Goltzius

Around 1590, Hendrick Goltzius made a trip to Italy. He was known for his prints, but from 1600 he also began painting.
Goltzius produced a series of falling figures, and these included, in addition to Ixion, the falling Tantalus, Icarus falling into the water, and Phaeton falling from the skies. Like Ixion, these figures had earned the displeasure of the Greek gods; all four are an example of Hubris (ὕβρις). On each print, Goltzius stated that it was based on a design by Cornelis van Haarlem. But paintings by Cornelis van Haarlem of the other three mythological figures have never, unfortunately, been traced.
See also: Jeroen Giltaij, Hemelbestormers in: Openbaar Kunstbezit, 1982, 1, pp. 26-29.

Purchases

Claes Oldenburg (1929), Richard Serra (1939) and Bruce Nauman (1941) are American artists who, in the seventies of the 20th century, gave their own contemporary and sometimes monumental take on sculpture. Oldenburg’s Screw Arch has its place as a sculpture in the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum garden, but it is actually a design for the New Willem Bridge over the Maas in Rotterdam. See also: http://www.sculptureinternationalrotterdam.nl/new/index.php?a=collection&id=25

Wild Painters and Trans Vanguards

In the ‘sixties and the first half of the ‘seventies, abstract and conceptual art set the tone. As a reaction to this, a desire arose for images that are more closely related to man and the way in which he experiences his world. This desire was expressed in major exhibitions such as A New Spirit in Painting (London, 1981), Zeitgeist (Berlin, 1982) and in the book Hunger nach Bildern dating from 1982 by Wolfgang Max Faust.

For new painting in the Netherlands see: cat. exhib. Divided Images, Fodor Monthly, 2, 5, Dec. 1982