Luc Tuymans
Images
Luc Tuymans, Turtle, 2007. Oil on canvas; 144 7/8 x 200 3/8 in. (368 x 509 cm). © Luc Tuymans, Courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner, New York
Photo: Ben Blackwell, courtesy of David Zwirner, New York
Luc Tuymans, Ballroom Dancing, 2005. Oil on canvas; 62 1/4 x 40 3/4 x 1 5/8 in. (158 x 103.5 x 4 cm). Collection SFMOMA, promised gift of Shawn and Brook Byers. © Luc Tuymans
Photo: Ben Blackwell, courtesy of David Zwirner, New York
Luc Tuymans, Orchid, 1998. Oil on canvas; 39 1/4 x 30 1/4 in. (99.7 x 76.8 cm). Private collection, New York. © Luc Tuymans
Photo: Ben Blackwell, courtesy of David Zwirner, New York
Luc Tuymans, Reconstruction, 2000. Oil on canvas; 44 1/2 x 48 3/8 in. (113 x 122.9 cm). Friedrich Christian Flick Collection. © Luc Tuymans
Photo: Ben Blackwell, courtesy of David Zwirner, New York
Luc Tuymans, Mwana Kitoko, 2000. Oil on canvas; 81 3/4 x 35 3/8 in. (207.6 x 89.9 cm). Collection Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent. © Luc Tuymans
Photo: Ben Blackwell, courtesy of 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. © Luc Tuymans
Photo: Ben Blackwell, courtesy of David Zwirner, New York
Luc Tuymans, Schwarzheide, 1986. Oil on canvas; 23 5/8 x 27 1/2 in. (60 x 69.9 cm). Private collection. © Luc Tuymans
Photo: Ben Blackwell, courtesy of David Zwirner, New York
Luc Tuymans, The Heritage VI, 1996. Oil on canvas; 20 3/4 x 17 1/8 in. (53 x 43.5 cm). © Luc Tuymans, courtesy of David Zwirner, New York
Photo: Ben Blackwell
Luc Tuymans, Lumumba, 2000. Oil on canvas; 24 3/8 x 18 1/8 x 7/8 in. (61.9 x 46 x 2.2 cm). Collection Museum of Modern Art, New York, fractional and promised gift of Donald L. Bryant Jr., 2002. © Luc Tuymans
Photo: Ben Blackwell, courtesy of David Zwirner, New York
Luc Tuymans, The Nose, 2002. Oil on canvas; 11 ¾ x 9 ½ in (29.9 x 24.1 cm). Collection of Jill and Dennis Roach. © Luc Tuymans
Photo: Ben Blackwell, courtesy of David Zwirner, New YorkAbout
Luc Tuymans (Belgian, b. 1958) is considered one of the most significant European painters of his generation and has been an enduring influence on younger and emerging artists. Born and raised in Antwerp, where he lives and works, Tuymans is an inheritor to the vast tradition of Northern European painting. At the same time, as a child of the 1950s, his relationship to the medium is understandably influenced by photography, television, and cinema.
Interested in the lingering effects of World War II on the lives of Europeans, Tuymans explores issues of history and memory, as well as the relationship between photography and painting, using a muted palette to create canvases that are simultaneously withholding and disarmingly stark. Drawing on imagery from photography, television, and film, his distinctive compositions make ingenious use of cropping, close-ups, framing, and sequencing, offering fresh perspectives on the medium of painting, as well as larger cultural issues.
The artist’s more recent work approaches the post-colonial situation in the Congo and the dramatic turn of world events after 9/11. These series have led Tuymans to a sustained investigation of the realms of the pathological and the conspiratorial.
Luc Tuymans is co-organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Wexner Center for the Arts. It is organized in chronological order, highlighting the fluid progression of the artist's work and spanning every phase of the artist's career. It features approximately 80 key paintings from 1985 to the present and is accompanied by a comprehensive, fully illustrated catalogue.
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<!— Video 2 caption: All artworks © Luc Tuymans. Still artwork photography by Ben Blackwell and portrait photography by Grant Delin; courtesy of David Zwirner, New York. —>
<!— Video 3 caption: All artworks © Luc Tuymans. Still artwork photography by Ben Blackwell and portrait photography by Grant Delin; courtesy of David Zwirner, New York. —>
<!— Video 4 caption: All artworks © Luc Tuymans. Video footage provided by the Wexner Center for the Arts. Still artwork photography by Ben Blackwell and portrait photography by Grant Delin; courtesy of David Zwirner, New York. —>
Funding
Luc Tuymans is organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University, Columbus. Generous support is provided by Bruce and Martha Atwater. Additional support is provided by Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein, and Flanders House, the new cultural forum for Flanders {bio: (Belgium) in the United States. Lead support for the Chicago Presentation is provided by the Harris Family Foundation in memory of Bette and Neison Harris: Caryn and King Harris, Katherine Harris, Toni and Ron Paul, Pam and Joe Szokol, Linda and Bill Friend, and Stephanie and John Harris. Major support is generously provided by Ken and Anne Griffin and Helen and Sam Zell. Additional support is provided by Neil G. Bluhm; the Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson Foundation; Andrea and Jim Gordon, The Edgewater Funds; the Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation; Sylvia Neil and Daniel Fischel; and Barbara Bluhm Kaul and Don Kaul.
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