The Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague, which is acclaimed for having Vermeer’s famous Girl with a Pearl Earring and Fabritius’ Goldfinch in its collection, celebrates 200th birthday this year. To honour this anniversary, special temporary exhibitions are held throughout the year. One of them, opened on 1 June is entitled Flash/Back and will be on show until 16 October. https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/what-s-on/exhibitions/flashback/ Although perhaps an exhibition is not a precise term. For the objects covered by this title are woven into the permanent display of the Mauritshuis and are not presented as a separate collection. I am already explaining what this is all about.
Hedwig Wösten, the exhibition’s curator, invited 16 contemporary Dutch and Flemish photographers to choose one of the paintings from Mauritshuis resources by masters of the same nationality and take a photograph inspired by it. And so it happened. The result is 16 outstanding photographs, each exhibited in a different room of the Mauritshuis, in the company of a selected painting, the source of inspiration. They do not necessarily hang next to each other, often rather on adjacent walls to give both works some space.
Rogier van der Weyden, LAMENTATION, 1460-64 and LAMENTATION by Carla van de Puttelaar, 2022
Among the contemporary masters of photography invited to take part in the project are Erwin Olaf, Sanja Marusic, Rineke Dijkstra and Anton Corbijn.
The idea of making an artistic photograph inspired by a painting is not new. However, this collection may surprise viewers who have already seen similar works before. Why? Because this time it is not a simple remake of an old painting created with other technical means, sometimes with an added accent making it clear that the creator is a contemporary person, for example a Coca-Cola can or sunglasses placed somewhere on the side.
Rembrandt TWO AFRICAN MEN, 1661 and the same title by Anton Corbijn, 2022
The artists tried not to repeat the original painting faithfully, but rather to create a similar atmosphere and climate and deliver the same message. To show a similar situation, but in a contemporary context. Hence the girl reading a letter is compared with a girl reading text messages. The concept of these photographs is sometimes based on one, sometimes on several aspects of the painting. It can be the composition, the texture of the fabric, the light or the situation and the emotions associated with it. This is the novelty of this collection and I agree with the statement that after seeing Flash/Back, looking at the works of Rembrandt, Vermeer, or Van der Weyden will never be the same again.
Gerard ter Borch, WOMAN WRITING A LETTER, 1655 and the same theme by Rineke Dijkstra, 2022
Not a copy, not a pastiche, but a beautiful, creative transformation of paintings from several centuries ago. By the way – I am delighted that the Mauritshuis has decided to present this collection and I sincerely encourage you to see it!
Jacob Jordaes THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPPERDS, 1617 and MAMA I BEBA by Sanja Marušić, 2022