Museum of Fine Arts Ghent hosts monograph on Theodoor Rombouts, painter of Flemish Caravaggism

From January 21 to April 23, 2023, the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent presents a monographic exhibition devoted to Theodoor Rombouts (Antwerp, 1597 - 1637), considered an exponent of Flemish Caravaggism. Among the leading figures in Antwerp’s artistic milieu, Rombouts was highly regarded during his short life, but his artistic legacy was soon eclipsed by his fellow Baroque masters, such as Pieter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640) and Antoon Van Dyck (1599 - 1641). The Museum of Fine Arts Ghent therefore intends to celebrate his talent and highlight his artistic originality by interpreting Rombouts’ work through a novel lens.

After his formative years alongside Abraham Janssen, the young Rombouts moved to Italy in the early 17th century, where he was influenced by the revolutionary genius of Caravaggio and Bartolomeo Manfredi. Back in Antwerp, the Flemish painter began to develop his artistic identity. From his atelier he satisfied the public’s desires and became a specialist in Flemish Caravaggism, whose brushstrokes hinted at the stylistic influences of Rubens, then much loved by patrons. Rombouts’ career came to an abrupt end with his death in 1637 at only 40 years of age.

Prominent in Rombouts’ varied oeuvre are the monumental, lively, and at times moralizing genre scenes featuring elegant groups of figures and players. They are executed according to the Manfrediana methodus, a technique named after one of the earliest exponents of Caravaggism, Bartholomew Manfredi, and are distinguished by the play of chiaroscuro, naturalism, and dramatic atmosphere, between close-ups and groups of half-figures portrayed in highly personal shades of purple, red, and blue. The son of a tailor, Rombouts possesses a keen sensibility for textiles, which he paints with verisimilitude, and for musical instruments, which he reproduces with great virtuosity. In his stage-flavored compositions, popular characters are enhanced by the elegant atmosphere and refined costumes. Rombouts prefers to choose his models directly, typical figures that he reproduces painting after painting. Sometimes it is he himself who appears among the characters in his canvases, sometimes it is his wife or daughter. Rombouts creates refined and accessible folk compositions with cheerful and playing characters, but he is also capable of depicting monumental and religious scenes, or allegories with political messages. The Flemish Caravaggesque painter blends Northern and Southern traditions in his work, and although his style was short-lived, Rombouts’ impact on genre painting in the southern Netherlands is not to be underestimated.

To produce this exhibition and the catalog, which features Theodoor Rombouts for the first time, under the curatorship of Frederica Van Dam, the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent carefully analyzed the Antwerp painter’s work. Paintings from private collections, churches and museums throughout Europe and the United States came to Ghent, some of them restored for the occasion with the museum’s contribution. The result is an unprecedented and surprising overview of the artist. Visitors will get to know the heart of the painter’s work for the first time, in an open dialogue with his contemporaries such as Bartolomeo Manfredi, Valentin de Boulogne and Hendrick ter Brugghen.

Through a thematic arrangement, the exhibition traces all aspects of Rombouts’ painting by revealing the man beyond the work: an intelligent artist who loved to be enchanted by the talent of his colleagues, but at the same time developed an artistic identity recognizable to both the patrons of the time and observers today. The Museum of Fine Arts Ghent has a special bond with the Antwerp painter, which began in 1860 with the purchase of The Allegory of the Five Senses (1632), the master’s first painting to open the museum’s collection, which soon became among his most popular masterpieces with the public.

On the occasion of the exhibition, the first monographic catalog devoted to the artist’s work will be published.

For info: https://www.mskgent.be/

Image: Theodoor Rombouts, Lute Player, detail (ca. 1625-30; Philadelphia Museum of Art, The John G. Johnson Collection)

Museum of Fine Arts Ghent hosts monograph on Theodoor Rombouts, painter of Flemish Caravaggism

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