Eloquent Formalism: The Collection Andries-Vanlouwe
On 17 November, MDD will officially inaugurate the renovated annexe with the exhibition Eloquent Formalism, presenting a wide selection from the Andries-Vanlouwe Foundation collection together for the first time.
The collection of Jan and Lieve Andries-Vanlouwe was initiated during the Cold War period. The canon of European art history still seemed valid, and the narratives about art as a means of communication across borders and continents were still somewhat undisputed. The collection reflects a deeply rooted belief in a democratic and open-minded idea of art.
Jan and Lieve Andries-Vanlouwe mainly acquired works from who were their contemporaries, but also earlier positions such as L茅on Spilliaert, Serge Poliakoff, and Mark Rothko. Embedded in the discourse on Belgian art of the 1970s and 1980s, their concise collection draws lines of reference to post-war positions from the USA such as Rothko, but also roots its ambitions in the groundbreaking linguistic reflections of Magritte. It includes manifestations of the ZERO movement such as an early painting and a sculpture by Lucio Fontana as well as later responses to the purity of formal reduction and non-expression in the works of Hilde Van Sumere and Dan Van Severen.
Curator Nicolaus Schafhausen emphasizes color, line, texture, and other perceptual aspects in the exhibition rather than historical and social contexts. The presentation embraces a different approach, reflecting the idea of a 鈥渕ore direct鈥� language as described by Hans Hartung.
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On 17 November, MDD will officially inaugurate the renovated annexe with the exhibition Eloquent Formalism, presenting a wide selection from the Andries-Vanlouwe Foundation collection together for the first time.
The collection of Jan and Lieve Andries-Vanlouwe was initiated during the Cold War period. The canon of European art history still seemed valid, and the narratives about art as a means of communication across borders and continents were still somewhat undisputed. The collection reflects a deeply rooted belief in a democratic and open-minded idea of art.
Jan and Lieve Andries-Vanlouwe mainly acquired works from who were their contemporaries, but also earlier positions such as L茅on Spilliaert, Serge Poliakoff, and Mark Rothko. Embedded in the discourse on Belgian art of the 1970s and 1980s, their concise collection draws lines of reference to post-war positions from the USA such as Rothko, but also roots its ambitions in the groundbreaking linguistic reflections of Magritte. It includes manifestations of the ZERO movement such as an early painting and a sculpture by Lucio Fontana as well as later responses to the purity of formal reduction and non-expression in the works of Hilde Van Sumere and Dan Van Severen.
Curator Nicolaus Schafhausen emphasizes color, line, texture, and other perceptual aspects in the exhibition rather than historical and social contexts. The presentation embraces a different approach, reflecting the idea of a 鈥渕ore direct鈥� language as described by Hans Hartung.
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