Drôles De Têtes : Rubens, Rembrandt Et Vermeer

Exhibition at the KMSKA, Antwerp, 20 October 2023 - 21 January 2024 ;
at the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 24 February - 26 May 2024.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, artists unleashed a veritable artistic cataclysm: they detached the face and the head from the biblical or mythological context in order to present them distinctly, in all their splendour, in order to model them, to observe them, to adorn them with costumes and grimaces. The greatest masters - Dürer, Massijs, Bruegel, Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer... - drew and painted "trognes", some of them willingly choosing anonymous models for their creative experiments.

This exhibition catalogue traces the development of "trognes" through five themes, from the prelude of the 15th century to the variations of the 19th century, with a major focus on the 17th century. It brings together 76 masterpieces of Netherlandish art, as well as reflections from contemporary artists for whom the face is at the centre of the work, shedding new light on this genre.