140 paintings of Flemish Masters travel to United States
Around 140 Flemish masterpieces, some never before shown in Belgium or the United States, will be on display at the Denver Art Museum from Sunday. A feat pulled off by The Phoebus Foundation, a collection that began as the private collection of Belgian art collectors Fernand and Karine Huts.
"The works are spread across six themes," explains Niels Schalley, project coordinator at The Phoebus Foundation. "They bring an anthology of three hundred years of Flemish art and culture." Venue of the event is Denver, the capital of Colorado.
For many artworks, it was an 8,000-kilometre journey, a challenging logistical process about which no details are known for safety reasons. "The largest artwork is two metres by four, the smallest fits in the palm of your hand," said Schalley, who is preparing the exhibition in the United States.
The exhibition, "Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks", will be on display until January 2023. According to the Denver Art Museum, it is a "unique presentation of medieval art". It includes paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, from the Southern Netherlands.
The well-known Denver Art Museum will display "works that depict a rapidly changing time through unique styles, subjects and techniques". Artists include Hans Memling, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Jordaens and Anthony van Dyck. Their paintings should allow the viewer to "draw parallels with the world today".
(TOM)
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A self-portrait of the Flemish painter Rubens. - © BELGA PHOTO KRISTOF VAN ACCOM