MSK works travelling internationally this autumn and winter

La Grande Bleue. Painters of the Mediterranean
Until 7.01.24 Singer Laren

La Grande Bleue tells the story of the vast yearning for the intense blue of the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean coast has exerted an almost magnetic pull on artists since 1870. Here, they imagined themselves in an earthly paradise while, in relative isolation, they struck out on new artistic paths. (langere tekst volgt)

From the MSK collection: Noon in Estérel by Emile Claus, The Straw Hat by Jean Van den Eeckhoudt, The Bay of Collioure by Willem Paerels and Pine-Tree near the Mediterranean Sea at Sunset by Théo Van Rysselberghe.

Het Kunstuur 2
Until 14.04.24 Hasselt

Het Kunstuur exhibits masterpieces by Belgian artists from the period 1850 – 1950, in a unique way. Flemish celebrities talk about their connection with the artist or artwork.

The new, second exhibition in Hasselt will feature The Attic II by Jean Brusselmans, Morning Reflection on the Thames in London by Emile Claus and Louise by Léon De Smet.

The Myth of Spain. Ignacio Zuloaga (1870-1945)
Until 4.02.24 Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung Munich

The Kunsthalle München presents the first comprehensive exhibition of Spanish painter Ignacio Zuloaga in Germany, featuring some ninety works. Zuloaga shaped the image of Spain abroad like almost no other artist around 1900: toreros and spirited flamenco dancers; beggars, little people, and witches invoking the artistic legacy of Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Goya; ascetics and penitents in vast landscapes withering under the blazing sun; the simple life of the rural population. In the wake of industrialization and Spain’s increasing orientation towards European Modernism, Zuloaga strove to preserve the “Spanish soul” with such scenes, which gained him international success.

From the MSK collection Spanish Farmers at a Market will be on display.

The Brueghel Dynasty: Five Generations of Successful Painters
Until 7.01.24 Noordbrabants Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch

No study of art history is complete with the Brueghel family. For two centuries, painters with the surname Brueghel, also spelled Bruegel, played an unprecedented role on Europe's art scene. Each and every one of them possessed exceptional technique and painted amusing compositions and captivating scenes of the everyday and the beauty of nature.

The Brueghel dynasty is made up of no fewer than five generations of successful painters, of whom Pieter Bruegel the Elder is probably the most famous. The Brueghels were active between 1550 and 1700, and practiced almost every type of painting. From local and foreign landscapes and scenes of everyday peasant life, to allegories, mythical stories, history paintings, animals, and floral still lifes.

From the MSK, Wedding Dance in the Open Air by Pieter II Brueghel and Study of Monkeys, a Deer and Other Animals by Jan I Brueghel will be exhibited.

Adriaen van de Venne’s alternative universe
Until 21.04.24 Zeeuws Museum Middelburg

Adriaen van de Venne spent 10 years living and working in Middleburg (1614-1624) at the beginning of his artistic career. During this time he painted a number of unusual allegorical scenes, such as Fishing for Souls and View of the port at Middleburg, as well as small landscapes featuring the four seasons. He also created political prints for the publishing business run by his brother, Jan van de Venne, and illustrated books by Jacob Cats, Constantijn Huygens and others. Around 1625 Van de Venne moved to The Hague, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life and where a new pool of customers meant a new style of work. The exhibition in the Zeeuwse Museum presents works on loan from the Rijksmuseum and exceptional works from other larger and smaller museums, other institutions and private collections at home and abroad.

From the MSK collection on display: Dicing, Drabbing and Drinking Bring Man to Destruction. 

Turning Heads. Bruegel, Rubens and Rembrandt
Until 21.01.24 KMSKA Antwerp

Faces are very much in the spotlight at the KMSKA this autumn. The exhibition Turning Heads focuses on the development of a new genre, the head study. Interest in the tronie, the old Dutch word for ‘face’ surged in the 17th century, when artists like Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer poured their talent into painting the human face. The results are often small, but stunningly painted, drawn or engraved: intimate works that bring us closer to the artist than ever.

Turning Heads at the KMSKA brings together 76 eloquent masterpieces from Belgian and international collections including from the MSK collection Studies of the Head of Abraham Grapheus by Jacob Jordaens and Christ Carrying the Cross by Jheronimus Bosch (?)*, that leaves the museum for the first time in 70 years.

* the attribution to Bosch is still disputed

Daring Visions. George Minne and Léon Spilliaert. From Symbolism to Expressionism
Until 3.03.24 Clemens Sels Museum Neuss

The exhibition Daring Visions highlights the fascinating, mystical worlds of symbolists George Minne (1866-1941) and Léon Spilliaert (1881-1946). The work of these two pioneering modernists marks the transition from symbolism to expressionism. Starting from the expansive German Symbolism collection, the exhibition gives surprising insights into an innovative period in Belgian art. Through around 70 paintings and sculptures from German and international collections, Daring Visions investigates the influence of Minne and Spilliaert on the art of the 20th century.

On view from the MSK: Small Injured Figure, Mourning Mother, Studies van zes geknielde jongelingen and Study for the 'Fountain of the Kneeling Youths' by George Minne and Silhouette of the Artist by Léon Spilliaert.

Rare and indispensable. Masterpieces from Flemish collections
Until 25.02.24 MAS Antwerp

In honour of the 20th anniversary of the 'Flemish Masterpiece Decree' masterpieces by Magritte, Bacon, Ensor, Moore, Jordaens, Rubens and other world-famous names will be on display at the MAS this autumn. The exhibition 'Rare and Indispensable' brings a unique selection of masterpieces from the Flemish masterpiece list. Works of art you would otherwise have to travel all over Flanders to see, or which were never even publicly accessible, can now be temporarily admired in one museum hall.

As many as eight works from the MSK will be on display: Perspective II. Manet's Balcony by René Magritte, Portrait of Giovanni Paolo Cornaro by Jacopo Tintoretto, Portrait of a Kleptomaniac by Théodore Géricault, The Lecture by Emile Verhaeren by Théo Van Rysselberghe, Self-Portrait by Josse Sébastien Van den Abeele, Portrait of Marguerite Van Mons by Théo Van Rysselberghe, Saint James the Less by Jean Delcour and Saint Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata by Peter Paul Rubens.

Rose, Rose, Rose à mes yeux. James Ensor and still lifes in Belgium from 1830 to 1930
Until 14.04.24 Mu.ZEE Ostend

In Flanders, 2024 is dedicated to James Ensor. It will then be 75 years since the Ostend master died. MU.ZEE, together with others, gives the starting signal to this special year with Rose, Rose, Rose à mes yeux. James Ensor and still lifes in Belgium from 1830 to 1930, the first exhibition ever devoted entirely to Ensor’s still lifes. The exhibition follows the evolution at the heart of Ensor’s body of work and within Belgium’s history of still life. Around 30 works by Ensor from public and private collections from home and abroad are placed alongside 120 mostly unknown, rarely or never public still lifes that illustrate the development of the illustrative genre in Belgium (Antoine Wiertz, Marie de Bièvre, Louis Thévenet, Marthe Donas, Rik Wouters, Jean Brusselmans,...). Particular attention is also paid to completely forgotten female painters such as Alice Ronner and Georgette Meunier and the isolated figure of Henri de Braekeleer.

From the MSK collection, Still Life with Game, Flowers and Fruits by Jean-Baptiste Robie, Still Life with Studio Objects by Louis Dubois, Studio Materials by Alfred Verhaeren, Still life with Cineraria by Gustave Van de Woestyne and Still life with a Globe, also by Gustave Van de Woestyne, will be on display.