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The Image Revisited. Luc Tuymans in Conversation with Hans De Wolf, T.J. Clark and Gottfried Böhm.
At the age of nineteen, a young Luc Tuymans saw for the very first time the work of El Greco on a visit to the Szépmvészeti Múzeum in Budapest, an event that sparked his imagination and prompted him to embark on a journey that would lead him to be one of today's most influential artists. Almost forty years later, that life-changing experience is recounted and celebrated in The Image Revisited: Luc Tuymans in conversation with... , a book that acts both as a monograph and a history of art book. Timed to coincide with an exhibition organized by Tuymans at MuHKA, Antwerp, in May 2018, this richly illustrated book includes three conversations Tuymans had with art historians Hans Maria De Wolf, Gottfried Böhm and T.J. Clark in museums in Basel, Brussels and Budapest over the course of three years. What emerges, along with a fascinating discussion on the work of artists such as El Greco, Cézanne, Goya, de la Tour, Titian, Courbet, Mantegna, Hopper, Newman and Richter amongst others, is an insight into Tuymans' own creative process, and how the great art of the past inspired and motivated him.
279 pages, Paperback
First published May 28, 2018
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 8, 2024
Deep and arguably, deeply pretentious.
Some fascinating conversations which are themselves worthy of revisiting multiple times over.
The book is beautifully produced with plenty of reproductions - both of Tuymans’ work and of the many other paintings discussed - which really help to anchor the often flighty text.
The most interesting comments are typically made by Tuymans, whose intellect is evidently broad and deep. His thought process moves through jumps which can be surprising, making connections and heading in tangential directions; he never really answers a question directly but uses it as a launching point. There is a sense that the two academics are scrambling a little to try and pin down these elusive thoughts, to return and redouble on certain points to attempt a more defined conclusion. Of course this is rather futile and serves to demonstrate that art (particularly painting, and especially Tuymans’ paintings) is not about defined conclusions, but suggestions, open-ended questions, mystery.
The best parts for me (as a painter) are where Tuymans is discussing his own work, his process, his sources.
Between the conversations are some short sections in which Hans M. De Wolf explains the thinking behind setting up the meetings between artist and academic, which are at points unintentionally hilarious. He is very resentful of the ‘Bologna reforms’ (the academisation of art education, the emphasis on research rather than practice) and for some perplexing reason sees this project as a rebellion against them. The hilarity is in his pretentious and grandiose statements, that they are doing something ‘never before attempted’, a unique and groundbreaking exercise. There had never been a series of conversations between an artist and academic / art historian before?? Both he and Gottfried Boehm seem rather self-congratulatory about the project and suggest that they have reached some never-before-seen insights into the nature of the image. Whether that’s true or not, their manner is rather amusing (one has to laugh and go along in good spirit rather than being cynical).
But if you’re not put off by the - at times - rather self-serious and mastubatory tone, there are some really interesting themes to explore in these exchanges.
Some fascinating conversations which are themselves worthy of revisiting multiple times over.
The book is beautifully produced with plenty of reproductions - both of Tuymans’ work and of the many other paintings discussed - which really help to anchor the often flighty text.
The most interesting comments are typically made by Tuymans, whose intellect is evidently broad and deep. His thought process moves through jumps which can be surprising, making connections and heading in tangential directions; he never really answers a question directly but uses it as a launching point. There is a sense that the two academics are scrambling a little to try and pin down these elusive thoughts, to return and redouble on certain points to attempt a more defined conclusion. Of course this is rather futile and serves to demonstrate that art (particularly painting, and especially Tuymans’ paintings) is not about defined conclusions, but suggestions, open-ended questions, mystery.
The best parts for me (as a painter) are where Tuymans is discussing his own work, his process, his sources.
Between the conversations are some short sections in which Hans M. De Wolf explains the thinking behind setting up the meetings between artist and academic, which are at points unintentionally hilarious. He is very resentful of the ‘Bologna reforms’ (the academisation of art education, the emphasis on research rather than practice) and for some perplexing reason sees this project as a rebellion against them. The hilarity is in his pretentious and grandiose statements, that they are doing something ‘never before attempted’, a unique and groundbreaking exercise. There had never been a series of conversations between an artist and academic / art historian before?? Both he and Gottfried Boehm seem rather self-congratulatory about the project and suggest that they have reached some never-before-seen insights into the nature of the image. Whether that’s true or not, their manner is rather amusing (one has to laugh and go along in good spirit rather than being cynical).
But if you’re not put off by the - at times - rather self-serious and mastubatory tone, there are some really interesting themes to explore in these exchanges.
Displaying 1 of 1 review