Art Frame: MMFA 2024: 300 Hundred Years of Flemish Art

SAINTS, SINNERS, LOVERS AND FOOLS

THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF FLEMISH MASTERWORKS

June 8 – October 20, 2024

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is presenting a major exhibition that showcases The Phoebus Foundation’s world-class collection of Flemish art. Couched in timeless themes, the show transports audiences to the Southern Netherlands during a dynamic period of social, scientific, economic and artistic development (1400-1700). Saints, Sinners, Lovers and Fools is organized by the Denver Art Museum and The Phoebus Foundation of Antwerp, Belgium. It presents masterworks by celebrated artists of the day whose works were created during that 300 years long period, including Hans Memling, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens and Michaelina Wautier, among many others. The Montreal presentation is also complemented by selections from the MMFA’s renowned collection of Flemish art.

The exhibition is laid out in six sections and features some 150 works, including monumental paintings, sculptures, books, silverwork and maps.

GOD IS IN THE DETAILS

This section presents religious art of the 15th and early 16^th century. In looking closely at these works packed with symbolism and delightful details, such as Hans Memling’s The Nativity, or Triptych with the Adoration of the Magi by Pieter Coecke van Aelst the Elder, the public will appreciate how Flemish citizens used images to interact with higher powers, build community and secure their legacyAfter the Black Death (1347–1351) and the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453), life in Europe seemed fleeting and uncertain. Many people found solace in the Catholic Church, with its promise of eternal salvation..

PORTRAIT MODE

The next section is dedicated to portraits that celebrate the wealth and status of individuals and, by the same token, mark the dawn of the art patron. Among the works displayed are notably Portrait of Archduke Albert of Austria by Peter Paul Rubens, the Double Portrait of Husband and Wife Playing Tables by Jan Sanders van Hemessen, and a work by his daughter, Catharina van Hemessen, titled Portrait of a Lady. Following this section is a group of paintings depicting fools and foolish behaviour that showcases how artists used humour to both moralize and entertain.

FAITH AND FOLLY

Unlike portraits of the wealthy, which exude confidence, pride and self-satisfaction, the paintings in this section critique human flaws and weaknesses, often at the expense of others. In Flanders during the 1500s, people may have seemed to be having a bit too much fun: indulging in food and drink, dancing and generally living in excess. Such behaviours could lead to greed, lust and other follies. In the face of their sins, all humans could do was admit their shortcomings and laugh at themselves... or at the ones portrayed. The scenes in these paintings are meant to hold up a mirror. They are often full of jokes, pranks and witty double meanings, but the punchline is always deadly serious: Do not be like the fools and sinners in these artworks, otherwise you will never get to heaven.

MYTHOLOGY AND NATURE

In the wake of the Italian Renaissance, stories from Greek mythology joined the ranks of fashionable subjects in art. Its epic tales of

love, tragedy and deceit provided artists with endless source material, some of it quite fleshy and provocative. In addition, the study of ancient Greco-Roman art and culture brought new ways of investigating the natural world and humankind’s place within it. This period saw significant advancements in medicine, botany and geography, which in turn shaped the way artists represented nature and the body. Europeans also looked to their ancient past to make sense of the remote, non-Christian civilizations they were encountering through global trade and colonial exploits. Then as now, art, science, technology and politics were closely intertwined.

A WORLD IN TURMOIL

War ravaged Europe in the late 1500s. The conflict between the Netherlands and Spain began in 1568, and went on for eighty years of bloodshed, looting and destruction. Determined to keep the wealthy northern territories under his authority, King Philip II of Spain sent his favourite daughter, the Infanta Isabella, and her husband, Archduke Albert, to govern the rebellious region. The two used Catholicism in an attempt to glue their fragmented provinces back together, and art played a key role in this agenda. International celebrity painters, such as Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, created dramatic paintings that drew upon the strong Catholic imagery of Italian art. Their styles, which emanated across genres, appealed to the heightened sensibilities of a society plagued by war and political instability. Ultimately, the Spanish failed to unite the Netherlands under Catholicism, and in 1648 it formally split in two. The northern region was recognized as an independent Protestantdominated republic, and the southern part remained under Spanish Catholic rule.

VANITAS

By the seventeenth century, the art market was booming in the Southern Netherlands. Middle- and upper-class townspeople began collecting across genres and creating lavish picture galleries in their homes. This gallery of the exhibition is inspired by such spaces, which are documented in paintings of the time. Because amassing worldly goods could be seen as an act of vanity that privileges man over God, many of the works in these collections include reminders of mortality, including skulls and skeletons. Even portraits and still lifes were meant to provoke reflection on the fleetingness of life on earth. After all, it is only in the world of a painting that the young stay young, food does not rot and flowers never die. As you conclude your visit, we invite you to contemplate the range of desires—to connect, to possess, to marvel, to learn—that underlie the collection and display of art both then and now.

Katharina Van Cauteren, Chief of Staff of The Phoebus Foundation Chancellery stated:

“We are excited for the next chapter of our Flemish masterpieces at the MMFA. This captivating exhibition is a rollercoaster ride through a rebellious 300 years of Flemish history, guaranteed to captivate a new wave of art enthusiasts!”

Chloé M. Pelletier, Curator of European Art (before 1800) at the MMFA elaborated:

“Presented first in Denver and then in Dallas, this show offers deeper insight into the different areas of Flemish art and deals with universal timeless themes. Flanders, this small but mighty society, was seeking to establish itself in a fast-changing, increasingly globalized world. Art played a crucial role in this, and it’s fascinating to see that the legacy of this period persists today,”

Publication

The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated art book of over 400 pages, edited by Katharina Van Cauteren, Chief of Staff of The Phoebus Foundation Chancellery. Titled From Memling to Rubens: The Golden Age of Flanders, it has been adapted in French by the international publisher Hannibal Books.

The MMFA’s collection of Flemish art

The Museum boasts one of the largest collections of Flemish art in North America, with over 200 works. The Montreal presentation of the exhibition will include paintings by Adriaen Isenbrandt, Jan Fyt and Jan Bruegel the Elder, among other works from its collection.