Ensor, Memling, Bouts: a two-year art experience in Flanders – World

World – Surreal visions, colorful masks, grotesque caricatures, landscapes and still lifes of incredible delicacy: the art of James Ensor (1860-1949), the great Belgian painter who inspired the Expressionists, aroused Hitler’s censure and refused to be associated with any movement. 75 years after the artist’s death, Flanders is preparing to celebrate him with a program full of events that will have his city, Ostend, as its driving force and will involve important museums such as the KMSKA of Antwerp, recently renovated.

“To each his own passion” is the motto that inspires this year of rebirth in Flanders. And so alongside the celebrations in honor of Ensor, father of Belgian Modernism, travelers will be able to choose from a decidedly varied cultural offer: in the name of regenerative tourism, which favors the connection between the different souls of the area and contact with visitors, the 2023 program will range from Flemish Primitives such as Hans Memling and Dieric Bouts, to a surprising tour of the castles of the Scheldt, up to the July inauguration of Belgian Beer World, the spectacular hub that will celebrate the excellence and tradition of the legendary Belgian beer in the former headquarters of the Brussels Stock Exchange. Ready for departure?

Hans Memling (c. 1433 – 1494), Diptych by Maarten van Nieuwenhove, 1487, Oil on oak panel, 41.5 x 52 cm (each panel), Bruges Sint Jaanshospitaal-Memlingmuseum

Rediscover the Primitives, from Louvain to Bruges
A must-see attraction for any art lover visiting Belgium, Flemish Primitives are at the center of the 2023 cultural calendar. Leuven an eclectic festival will celebrate the talent of Dieric Bouts with exhibitions, theatre, music and literature performances. In the city where the fifteenth-century master spent his entire life, the exhibition Dieric Bouts. Picture Maker will bring together around 30 works by the artist in a dialogue beyond the confines of time: alongside the paintings by the house genius we will find works by famous contemporaries such as Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, but also testimonies of current visual culture, capable of opening new perspectives on the work of Bouts (M Leuven Museum, from 20 October 2023 to 14 January 2024).

A Usedon the other hand, the new layout of the Saint John’s Hospitalone of the oldest hospitals in Europe, which today houses a museum dedicated to the great Hans Memling. Second in the world for masterpieces by the master, the Bruges collection represents an essential point of reference for research on the art of the Primitives. In the new exhibition itinerary we will therefore discover the results of the latest studies conducted on Memling, in a story where the vision of famous painted jewels is accompanied by innovative digital applications.

Castello Marnix de Sainte Aldegonde I Courtesy VisitFlanders

Art, history, nature: tour of the Castles of the Scheldt
Not everyone knows it, but the landscape of Flanders is dotted with fortresses, historic houses and castles surrounded by parks and gardens: in 2023 a special itinerary that can also be traveled by bicycle invites you to discover them one by one, in a fascinating journey through the centuries. It starts from the iconic castle Het Steen in Antwerp, dating back to the 11th century, and continues along the course of the river Scheldt to the castle of Gravensteen, nestled in the historic center of Ghent. Splendors of the court and conflicts for power still echo within the walls of these ancient manors, amidst architectural marvels and the inviting natural scenery of the Rivierpark Scheldevallei. If the castle of Wissekerke is the first in Belgium in neo-Gothic style and that of Ursel is known for its beautiful park, the castle of Laarne boasts a superb collection of paintings, tapestries and period furniture, while the Marnix de Sainte Aldegonde seems straight out of a fairy tale.

James Ensor, The Entry of Christ into Brussels in 1889, 1888, Oil on canvas, 253 x 431 cm, Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum, Flemish Art Collection

From Ostend to Antwerp, for the year of James Ensor
“My colorful flower, my paradise on the sea”… In an old radio recording, Ensor says this about his city, Ostend, muse and theater of most of his works. No wonder, then, if this lively seaside resort overlooking the North Sea today is preparing to become the epicenter of the 2024 celebrations, starting with the pure Ensor-style carnival parade that will open the celebrations on December 12th.

Then show it Rose, Rose, Rose, In my eyeshe will rediscover Mu. ZEE a theme that runs through all of Ensor’s production, still lifes, while an exhibition dedicated to self-portraits is scheduled at the Ensor House, the birthplace of the artist which reopened in 2020 with a renewed layout. Next to a modern interactive center, the attic still exists here with the artist’s painting studio and grandmother’s souvenir shop, which excited little James’ imagination with an “inextricable hodgepodge of shells, lace, stuffed rare fish, old books, engravings, weapons and Chinese porcelain”.

James Ensor’s birthplace in Ostend, now a museum | Courtesy VisitFlanders

Antwerp will also join the 2024 celebrations with a varied exhibition programme. To the KMSKAthe recently refurbished Royal Museums of Fine Arts, the father of Belgian Symbolism will converse with famous European colleagues – from Claude Monet to Edvard Munch – in the exhibition In your wildest dreams, Ensor beyond impressionism (autumn 2024). At the Fashion Museum, on the other hand, the artist’s carnival attitude will prove to be more current than ever in an exhibition dedicated to disguise and make-up, while the Photography Museum and the Museo Plantin-Moretus they will retrace his eclectic and singular career, between hidden secrets and contemporary reinterpretations.

Athos Burez, The Baths of Ostend. From the work The Baths of Ostend by James Ensor I Courtesy VisitFlanders © Athos Burez

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