A painter of symbolic objects and mediated imagery, Luc Tuymans captures the essence of matter in the most minimal ways.
One of Europe’s most influential contemporary artists, Tuymans explores traumatic, historical topics. Using delicate brushwork and a muted palette, he turns images of the Holocaust, Belgian colonial rule in the Congo, and American extremism into powerful yet sublime pictorial depictions of humanity’s conflicted past.
View Tuymans’ gallery page, listen to a BBC interview, catch his traveling US retrospective, and buy the catalogue.
Luc Tuymans, Der diagnostische Blick V (The Diagnostic View V), 1992, Oil on canvas, 22 7/8 x 16 1/2 inches (58.1 x 41.9 cm), Private collection © Luc Tuymans, Photo courtesy Zeno X Gallery
Luc Tuymans, Orchid, 1998, Oil on canvas, 39 1/4 x 30 1/4 in. (99.7 x 76.8 cm), Private collection, courtesy David Zwirner, New York, © Luc Tuymans Photo: Felix Tirry, Courtesy David Zwirner, New York
Luc Tuymans, Chalk, 2000, Oil on canvas, 28 1/2 x 24 1/4 in. (72.4 x 61.6 cm), Private collection, promised gift to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, ©2008 Luc Tuymans, Photo: Ben Blackwell
Luc Tuymans, Ballroom Dancing, 2005, Oil on canvas, 62 1/4 x 40 3/4 in. (158 x 103.5 x 4 cm), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, fractional and promised gift of Shawn and Brook Byers, © Luc Tuymans
Luc Tuymans, The Heritage VI, 1996, Oil on canvas, 20 7/8 x 17 1/8 in. (53 x 43.5 cm), Courtesy David Zwirner, New York © Luc Tuymans, Photo courtesy David Zwirner, New York
Comments (1)
This is a great and eye opening experiment, though I take issue with Tuymans very modernist view that “art is not supposed to change the world.” Up until very recently, art was expected to change the world (think Diego Rivera, and even artists of the Renaissance…they had an AGENDA!)Tuymans statement is a throwback to the mindsets of the McCarthy era. Love the work, but we need to update our thinking.
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