Leuven is honouring the 15th-century Flemish Primitive painter Dieric Bouts with a prestigious exhibition at museum M. 150,000 visitors are expected. Never before have so many paintings by Dieric Bouts, from domestic and foreign collections, been on display at the same time. The works are being presented in combination - or confrontation - with visual material from today. So don't be shocked by a suffering Christ by Bouts next to a jaded Eddy Merckx.
The "best-known unknown painter in our collection" is how Dieric Bouts is sometimes called, says Marjan Debaene, chief curator of ancient art at M Leuven. Dieric or Dirk Bouts (1415-1475) lives somewhat in the shadow of better-known Flemish Primitives like Van Eyck, Memling or Van der Weyden.
"Bouts was not to be taken for granted." explains curator Peter Carpreau, "He plays with many registers and that makes him less marketable."
Bouts brings a synthesis of the first generation of Flemish Primitives, but adds accents of his own. These are amply covered in this exhibition, which aims to shed new light on this old master. It’s honour to a forgotten great.
M Leuven brings together works by Bouts himself, his studio, his son Albrecht and contemporaries, thanks to loans from important museums, from the Louvre in Paris but also from Berlin and the United States.
The extraordinary work, the "Triptych of the Descent from the Cross" comes from the royal chapel or Capilla Real in Granada (Spain). It left its home for the first time in five centuries and after the exhibition in Leuven is being restored at the Royal Institute for Art Heritage in Brussels. It’s a precision job that will take two years.
The exhibition begins and ends with works by Bouts from Leuven itself. A few weeks ago these were carefully moved from the nearby St Peter's Church to M Leuven. "The Torture of Saint Erasmus" opens the exhibition just like "an action scene in a James Bond film", says Peter Carpreau. The final touch is the monumental "Last Supper" shown in a theatre setting, red curtains included. This provides a very different viewing experience from that in a church.
M Leuven presents the 15th-century Dieric Bouts alongside his 21st-century colleagues, photographers and film directors.
The faces of Christ that Bouts painted were intended for personal devotion; people worshipped them at home. Something similar is happening today with sports heroes. As a result Eddy Merckx or Nafi Thiam hang among the Boutses.
The exhibition also features original drawings of the fantastic landscapes from the Star Wars films. Bouts also sought out the exotic; his layered and fading landscapes with craggy rock formations "were not immediately inspired by the hills of the Hageland," notes curator Peter Carpreau. It is hoped, the combination of old and new can help make sense of the image.
"Dieric Bouts. Sculptor" runs at M Leuven from 20 October 2023 to 14 January 2024.