The George Minne collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent centres around the plaster model for the Fountain with Kneeling Youths, which is the artist’s most important work. This “Narcissus fountain”, as Karel van de Woestijne famously called it, consists of five identical representations of the introverted, kneeling youth. Minne was also a deeply religious artist and the fountain should therefore be interpreted in this sense. Minne’s sketchbooks contain drawings, in which the fountain is shown in a liturgical context, reminding us for example of The Fountain of Life on the central panel of The Ghent Altarpiece by the Van Eyck Brothers (Saint-Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent). The ensemble was sculpted in white marble by Minne’s workshop for the German collector Karl Ernst Osthaus and originally stood in the hall of the Folkwang Museum in Hagen (it can now be found in Essen). The bronze group in the city centre of Ghent dates from the 1930s and was cast in a style that is closer to Art Deco. Minne kept the fountain that is currently in the museum’s collection in his workshop until his death. His daughter, Mrs Marie Gevaert-Minne, donated it to the museum in 1982.
| Artist |
George Minne
RKD
VIAF
Wikidata
|
|---|---|
| Title | Fountain with Kneeling Youths |
| Date |
ca. 1905
ca. 1927 - ca. 1930 |
| Period | 19th century |
| Collection | sculpture AAT |
| Object type | gypsum AAT |
| Inventory number | 1982-E |
| Acquisition credit |
gift
Gevaert-Minne, Marie Sint-Martens-Latem 1982 |
| Current whereabouts | Work on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1982-E |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/139/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus |
300189808
figures (representations)
AAT
300055865 symbolism (artistic concept) AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
11Q41
contemplation
Iconclass
21D water (one of the four elements) Iconclass 31A the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) Iconclass 31A2321 leaning forward Iconclass 31A2323 leaning sideways Iconclass 31A233 kneeling figure Iconclass 31B3 dream Iconclass 31D12 youth, young man, adolescent Iconclass 31D120 Youth, Adolescence, 'Iuventus'; 'Adolescenza', 'Gioventu' (Ripa) Iconclass 31D61 fountain of youth, 'Fontaine de Jouvence' Iconclass 32A22 thin (human type) Iconclass 32A22(+0) thin (human type) (+ variant) Iconclass 41A3915 fountain (indoors) Iconclass 46C2 traffic on the water Iconclass 95A(NARCISSUS) (story of) Narcissus Iconclass |
| School / Style | Symbolism (artistic concept) AAT |
| George Minne en de kunst rond 1900 (Tentoonstelling Gent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, 18.09.1982 - 05.12.1982) / Robert Hoozee, Monique Tahon-Vanroose, Albert Alhadeff. - Brussel : Gemeentekrediet, 1982 (p. 152-153, cat. 76 (ill.)) |
| 'George Minne Folkwang-Brunnen Werk und Wirkung', in: Junge Deutsche Kunst der / A. Hüncke. - Stuttgart-Essen : [s.n.] : [s.a.] (p. 10-17) |
| Le symbolisme sculpté / Elise Archambault. - Parijs : Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, [s.a.] (p. 11, nr. 19) |
| 'Mysticisme, érotisme, onirisme : le symbolisme', in : Museart, Musexpo : Paris / Stéphanie Dulout. - Paris : [s.n.] : [s.a.] (ill. p. 42) |
| 200 jaar verzamelen : Collectieboek Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent / Arnout Balis, Robert Hoozee, Maximiliaan P.J. Martens, Paul Van Haute. - Gent : Ludion, 2000 (cover; p. 270 (ill. 133)) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl. II, p. 5 (ill.)) |
| Het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : een keuze uit de mooiste werken / Patrick De Rynck. - Gent : Ludion, 2007 (p. 88-89 (ill.)) |
| Orizzonte Nord Sud : Protagonisti dell'arte europea ai due versanti delle Alpi 1840-1960 = Leading Figures of European Art North and South of the Alps 1840-1960 (Mostra Lugano, Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana, 12.09.2015 - 10.01.2016) / Marco Franciolli, Guido Comis, Francisco Jarauta, Pietro Bellasi, Gerd Roos. - Milano : Skira, 2015 |
| Antwerpen - Brugge - Gent : De musea en hun kunstschatten van Van Eyck tot Magritte ; ontdek het rijke erfgoed in drie Vlaamse steden ; de Vlaamse Kunstcollectie / Geert Souvereyns, Till-Holger Borchert, Paul Vandenbroeck. - Dijon : Éditions Faton, 2007 (p. 87 (ill.)) |
| Rodin : le livre du centenaire (exposition 'Rodin. L'exposition du centenaire' Paris, Grand Palais-Galeries nationales, 22.03.2017 - 31.07.2017) / Catherine Chevillot, Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, Sophie Biass-Fabiani, Hélène Marraud, Véronique Mattiussi, Hélène Pinet, François Blanchetière, Christina Buley-Uribe, Brigitte Léal. - Paris : Réunion des Musées Nationaux-Grand Palais, 2017 (p. 123) |
| Decadence and Dark Dreams : Belgian Symbolism (exhibition Berlin, Alte Nationalgalerie, 18.09.2020 - 17.01.2021) / Ralph Gleis, Maja Brodrecht, Johan De Smet, Jane Block, Hans Körner. - Berlin : Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Nationalgalerie, 2020 (p. 114, 117) |
| Dekadenz und dunkle Träume : Der belgische Symbolismus (Ausstellung Berlin, Alte Nationalgalerie, 18.09.2020 - 17.01.2021) / Ralph Gleis, Maja Brodrecht, Johan De Smet, Jane Block, Hans Körner. - Berlin : Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Nationalgalerie, 2020 |
| De nieuwe morgen : Impressionism, symbolisme en expressionisme in Vlaanderen (tentoonstelling Deinze, Museum van Deinze en de Leiestreek, 20.10.2018 - 27.01.2019) / Piet Boyens. - Tielt : Lannoo Uitgeverij, 2018 (p. 81) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : De collectie (tentoonstelling vanaf 21 maart 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2021 |
| Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand : La Collection (exposition dès le 21 mars 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gand : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, 2021 |
| Symbolisme in Vlaanderen : De eerste generatie kunstenaars in Sint-Martens-Latem (tentoonstelling 's-Hertogenbosch, Het Noordbrabants Museum, 10.07 - 09.10.2022) / Piet Boyens, Helewise Berger. - Zwolle : WBOOKS, 2022 ; 's-Hertogenbosch : Het Noordbrabants Museum, 2022 (p. 28) |
| Wandelgids : MSK in Gent / Sofie Corneillie, Bart Ooghe, Cathérine Verleysen, Lieven Gerard, Lies Ledure, Veerle Verhasselt. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2022 (p. 38 (beneden)) |
| Walking guide : MSK in Ghent / Sofie Corneillie, Bart Ooghe, Cathérine Verleysen, Lieven Gerard, Lies Ledure, Veerle Verhasselt. - Ghent : Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, 2022 |
| Guide de promenade : MSK à Gand / Sofie Corneillie, Bart Ooghe, Cathérine Verleysen, Lieven Gerard, Lies Ledure, Veerle Verhasselt. - Gand : Musée des Beaux-Arts Gand, 2022 |
| onder vrienden : 225 jaar verzamelaars rond het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent (tentoonstelling Gent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 25.11.2023 - 28.04.2024) / Johan De Smet, Frederica Van Dam, Willy Van der Gucht, Manfred Sellink. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2023 ; Gent : De Vrienden van het Museum, 2023 (p. 185, cat. 188 (ill.)) |
| Roadtrip : Herinneringen van Martin Wallaert aan Vlaamse kunstenaars uit de Leiestreek / Tim De Doncker, Matthias Depoorter. - Zulte : Dienst Vrije tijd gemeente Zulte, 2024 (p. 42) |
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