Brokaat
2016
Oil on canvas
201.3 × 154 × 4 cm (79 1/4 × 60 5/8 × 1 9/16 in.)
A host of yellow, blue and red patterns dance in a composition that at first glance looks abstract. However, Brokaat (brocade) is based on a detail from the mantle of Saint Donatien, Bishop of Rheims, who stands next to Mary in the painting The Virgin with Canon Van der Paele by Flemish artist Jan Van Eyck.
Belgian artist Luc Tuymans based this work on a photograph of Van Eyck’s work but modified the colours, a technique he uses in most of his paintings. He chooses images and photographs and transforms them in his paintings after a long period of reflection. In Brokaat, Tuymans plays with the symbolism of the colours, which are very codified for this piece of clothing worn by the aristocracy or higher clergy.
This work by Tuymans was presented for the first time by the Pinault Collection during "La Pelle" (“The Skin”), a show of the artist's work (2019-2020).
Belgian artist Luc Tuymans based this work on a photograph of Van Eyck’s work but modified the colours, a technique he uses in most of his paintings. He chooses images and photographs and transforms them in his paintings after a long period of reflection. In Brokaat, Tuymans plays with the symbolism of the colours, which are very codified for this piece of clothing worn by the aristocracy or higher clergy.
This work by Tuymans was presented for the first time by the Pinault Collection during "La Pelle" (“The Skin”), a show of the artist's work (2019-2020).
Exhibitions
Photo © Studio Luc Tuymans
courtesy Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp
