Belgian Art at the NCA Lahore



One World News, Lahore, the cultural capital of Pakistan, 12.04.09. "Two hundred students and special guests attended the lecture on Belgian art given by Mariano Akerman at the National College of Arts in Lahore. The event was opened by a moving welcome from Prof. Naazish Ata-Ullah and the remarks of Belgian Ambassador Hans Kint. During the lecture, Mariano Akerman dealt with the importance of mimesis (imitation) and fantasy in Belgian imagery, considering their interplay from the fifteenth century up to the present. The mimetic approach to reality was illustrated by the work of artists such as Jan van Eyck, Rogier de la Pasture, Teniers, Rubens, Van Dyck and Constantin Meunier. Imagination had its representatives in the work of Hieronymus Bosch, Joris Hoefnagel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, James Ensor, René Magritte and Jean-Michel Folon. The lecturer analyzed the mechanisms which operate in each approach. He demonstrated that considerable symbolism accompanies realistic imagery and that, far from being capricious or irrational, the art of imagination encapsulates its own truth. Because of his educational contribution to Pakistan, Mariano Akerman was granted with the Molka-Sajjad Prize, which he received from the Authorities of the National College of Arts in Lahore yesterday."

Akerman, Belgian Species, digital collage, April 2009

« Monsieur Mariano Akerman est un historien d'art qui sait partager sa passion. À l'occasion d'une conférence sur l'art belge donnée au National College of Arts de Lahore, il a montré combien il maîtrise parfaitement son sujet, "tressant" habilement les mises en évidence de l'oscillation et de l'imbrication des concepts de mimesis et de fantaisie, selon les perspectives historiques et spatiales qui caractérisent la peinture belge. » - Christian Adam de Villiers, Directeur, Alliance Française de Lahore

Limbourg Brothers, "January", Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, c. 1413-16. Musée Condé, Chantilly

Jan van Eyck, "Adam", Mystique Lamb Altarpiece, 1432. Cathedral Saint-Bavon, Ghent

Peter Paul Rubens, Saturn devouring one of his sons, 1636. Museo del Prado, Madrid

Émile Claus, The Girl with the Ducks, c. 1883

James Ensor, Squeletons willing to warm themselves up, 1889

René Magritte, The Taste of Tears, 1948. Oil, 60 x 50 cm.

Jean-Michel Folon, Yes to Thought, watercolor

The National College of Arts, Lahore
Photographs by Mariano Akerman


























Mariano Akerman: Belgian Art Lectures to Pakistan, 2008-2010

La Palabra

Francisco Luis Bernárdez, poeta y diplomático argentino, 1900-1978

En cada ser, en cada cosa, en cada
palpitación, en cada voz que siento
espero que me sea revelada
esa palabra de que estoy sediento.

Aguardo a que la diga el firmamento,
pero su boca inmensa está callada;
la busco por el mar y por el viento,
pero el viento y el mar no dicen nada.

Hasta los picos de los ruiseñores
y las puertas cerradas de las flores
me niegan lo que quiero conocer.

Sólo en mi corazón oigo un sonido
que acaso tenga un vago parecido
con lo que esa palabra puede ser.

Realidades neerlandesas

A realidade e a imaginação na cultura visual da Bélgica e Holanda
Pesquisador e Palestrante: Mariano Akerman

James Ensor, A intriga, 1890

Natureza e imaginação

Joris Hoefnagel, Composição, 1591

Hoefnagel: Mira Calligraphia Monumenta, 1591-96

Realidade

Invenção

Espelho

Rembrandt van Rijn

Pieter Bruegel

Pieter Claesz

Invenção

Hieronymus Bosch

Arent van Bolten

Nicasius Roussel

Quentin Matsys

Cornelis Floris

Pieter Bruegel

Ensor

Piet Mondrian

Escher

Fantasia?

Pieter Bruegel

Sonho ou realidade?

Adriaen Pietersz van de Venne
Texto na legenda: ”Hoe passen wy by een!”

Natureza e personalidade

Vincent van Gogh

Mariano Akerman, Netherlandish Realities or Reality and Imagination in the Visual Culture of Belgium and Holland, Imaginarium, 24.03.2013

Netherlandish Art

Hieronymus Bosch
The Garden of Delights : Paradise (detail), c. 1500
Museo del Prado, Madrid

Bosch: Musical Hell (detail)

Quentin Matsys, A Grotesque Woman, 1525
oil
National Gallery, London

Lucas Hugensz van Leyden
Ornamental Panel with Grotesques, 1528
engraving
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Cornelis Bos
Grotesque, 1546
Netherlandish engraving, 243 x 179 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Cornelis Floris
Grotesque from Veelderleij Veranderinghe van grotissen ende Compertimenten ghemaeckt tot dienste van alle die de Conste beminne ende ghebruiken, Antwerp, 1556
Etching on laid paper
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Hans Vredeman de Vries
Grotesque Ornament, 1565
Pen in brown, blue wash, over black chalk on paper, 21.5 × 15.8 cm
Ossolineum, Wrocław

Nicasius Roussel, Grotesque, Flanders, 1620
engraving
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Arent van Bolten
Grotesque Beast, 1610-30
bronze, 17 cm. height
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Adriaen Pietersz van de Venne
Skating Owls, oil, 1620
Museum for Kunst, Copenhaguen

Hoefnagel: A Grotesque Head, from Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta, c. 1591-96

Mira Calligraphia Monumenta
Calligraphic Abecedarium: Letter Construction
Facsimile image

Joris Hoefnagel
Mira calligraphiae monumenta, c. 1591-96

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
Jewish Young Man portrayed as Christ
oil
17th century

Pieter Claesz
Vanitas Still Life, 1630
Oil on wood, 39.5 × 56 cm
Mauritshuis, The Hague

Vincent van Gogh
Wheat Field with Cypresses, 1889
Oil on canvas, 73 x 93.4 cm

Vincent van Gogh
Cottages with Thatched Roofs, Auvers-sur-Oise, June 1890
Oil on canvas
Musée d'Orsay, Paris

James Ensor, The Intrigue, 1890
Oil on canvas, 90 x 150 cm
Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp

Piet Mondrian Composition with Gride
Collection Yves St Laurent, Paris