FACT SHEET - Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille

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FACT SHEET

FABLES DU PAYSAGE FLAMAND
Bosch, Brueghel, Bles, Bril
FLEMISH LANDSCAPE FABLES
Bosch, Breughel, Bles, Bril
The Lille Palais des Beaux-Arts is organizing a major international exhibition entitled « Fables du Paysage Flamand au
16° Siècle, Bosch, Brueghel, Bles, Bril » (« Flemish Landscape Fables in the 16th Century ») from October 6, 2012 to
January 14, 2013. This exhibition is preceded by a contemporary presentation on the theme of the Tower of Babel.
The marvellous and fabulous characteristics of these landscapes, which still arouse feelings of fascination, awe, or
perplexity, will be revealed through a hundred works of art in this exhibition.
At the dawn of the Mannerism movement landscapes stand out as the true subject of painting. Figures or Biblical stories
were relegated to secondary importance by the desire to show the invisible, in order to produce an impression of
infinity. Flemish artists invented a new way of painting, which was both captivating and creative, at the boundary
between reality and imagination. Nature became the place for myths and fables. Trees and rocks were given human
characteristics, and the strangest creatures were placed alongside men who were conducting their daily occupations.
In these hybrid worlds a path for life is drawn for the spectator. The Flemish landscape is a terrestrial framework, which
encourages the spectator to engage in thought. It becomes the passageway between physical reality and the spiritual
world.
These images show where the Christian faith and popular superstitions intertwined, where Beauty and the bizarre met,
and where both the marvellous and the monstrous were present. Nature was written in a symbolic language, for which
we no longer know all the codes. It carries us into a world which goes beyond our comprehension: cosmic, legendary,
and infinite. Created as vast compositions, the paintings in the exhibition “Flemish Landscape Fables of the 16th
Century” reproduce the unremitting action of world forces, on a miniature universal scale. Thus the artist’s act of
painting participates in the creative process.
These works of art are signed by famous masters such as Bosch, Breughel, Met de Bles, Bril, or Patinir, but also by less
wellknownbut nonetheless brilliant artists, like Jan Mandijn or Kerstiaen de Keuninck. Their powerful message
continues into the modern world, and has never ceased to be meaningful. The exhibition is above and beyond an artistic
opportunity. It is essentially the means of understanding the world around us.
Works of art coming from the collections of important French museums (Douai, Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg, Valenciennes…) and
international museums (Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Florence, Ghent, London, Madrid, Rome, Rotterdam, Vienna…).
Jérôme Bosch, La multiplication des pains. Madrid, Musée Lázaro Galdiano (Museo Lázaro Galdiano)
Exhibition Curator
Alain Tapié, Head Curator
Co-Exhibition Curators
Manfred Sellink, Director, Municipal Museums, Bruges
Paul Huvenne, Director, Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
Paul Vandenbroeck, Curator, Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
Michel Weemans, Art Historian, Professor, The Ecole Nationale Supérieure
d’Art de Bourges
Press Contact
Nord-Pas de Calais
Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille
Mathilde Wardavoir
33 (0)3 20 06 78 18
mwardavoir@mairie-lille.fr
Press Contact
Great Britain
Kathryn Hone
Arts Europe
+44 (0)208 977 5591
+44 (0)7833595626
info@artseurope.net
www.artseurope.net
Exhibition dates: October 6, 2012 to January 14, 2013, at the
Palais des Beaux-Arts Museum in Lille
Place de la République - 59000 Lille, France
www.pba-lille.fr / 33 (0)3 20 06 78 00
Exhibition Catalogue
Published thanks to the sponsorship of AG2R LA MONDIALE
Press Contact
France and Great Britain
Heymann Renoult Associées
Sarah Heymann et Laurence Gillion
33 (0)1 44 61 76 76
l.gillion@heymann-renoult.com
www.heymann-renoult.com
Press Contact
Belgium and Netherlands
Anne Samson & Catherine Dufayet
Communications
Léopoldine Turbat 33 (0)1 40 36 84 35
Laureen Grant 33 (0)1 40 36 84 40
rp@annesamson.com
This exhibition has been recognized as “of National Interest,” by the Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication/Direction Générale des Patrimoines/Service des Musées de France, and
has been granted exceptional financial aid from the State.
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