What other artists’ work does she relate to?

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 – 1553) was one of the leading German painters and printmakers of the early 16th century. As court painter of the Elector of Saxony, the patron of Luther, Cranach is remembered as the chief artist of the Reformation. He painted altarpieces, Lutheran subject pictures and portraits, as well as mythological works and nudes. Cranach was celebrated for his particularly virtuoso rendering of skin and flesh.

Rogier van der Weyden (1399 – 1464) was the leading Netherlandish painter of the mid-15th century. He lived and worked in Brussels; he was extremely inventive inconographically and compositionally, and was a master of depicting human emotion.

Phyllida Barlow (b. 1944) creates anti-monumental sculptures from inexpensive, low-grade materials such as cardboard, fabric, plywood, polystyrene, scrim and cement. These constructions are often painted in industrial or vibrant colours, the seams of their construction left at times visible, revealing the means of their making. See here.

Anj Smith (b. 1978) draws upon sources as disparate as the works of Lucas Cranach, and the couture of Madam Grès (as examples), and weaves archaic traditions and contemporary signs together into a personal cosmology. Her intricately rendered paintings explore issues of identity, eroticism, mortality, and fragility. See here.

Josephsohn (1920 – 2012) devoted his art entirely to the classical theme of sculpture, the human form. His sculptures convey an intensity that speaks of stoicism and dignity in the face of suffering. See here.

Glossary

Abstraction This is a term that can in its broadest sense be applied to any art that does not represent recognizable objects but which is most commonly applied to those forms of 20th century art in which the traditional European conception of art as the imitation of nature is abandoned.

Casting The act of shaping material by pouring it into a mould while molten.

Mould A hollow container used to give shape to molten or hot liquid material when it cools and hardens.

Northern Renaissance This term is applied to the transmission of Italian imagery and ideals to the rest of Europe.

Organic Form Derived from or related to living matter.

Ovid (43 BC – c. 17 AD) Roman poet who is particularly known for the ‘Metamorphoses’ which he completed around the time of the birth of Christ. This epic poem retells Greek and Roman myths and is an account of how from the beginning of the world right down to his own time bodies had been magically changed, by the power of the gods, into other bodies. The legend of the great hunter Actaeon, who was turned into a stag by the Goddess Diana, is referenced by De Bruckyere in her work ‘Actaeon, 2011 – 2012’.

Resin A usually transparent solid or semi-solid substance sometimes used as a medium by sculptors. Resins can be either natural or synthetic.

Sculpture A three dimensional art made by one of the four basic processes: carving, modelling, casting and constructing.

Wax Used for modelling since the Middle Ages, the properties of wax make it an excellent medium for modelling and casing in moulds. It melts at a low temperature, mixes with any colouring matter, takes surface tints well, and when molten, is highly responsive to impressions from a mould.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES DURING YOUR VISIT

NB. You will need to bring pencils and a sketchbook.

Activity 1

Make a circle shape by putting your thumbs and fingers together; this is your viewfinder. Look through your viewfinder at parts of the exhibition, find the view you find most interesting and draw it into a circle.

Activity 2

Pupils focus on the material of the works; selecting a small area of the work and using a variety of mark making techniques (including shading, smudging, rubbing out) pupils evoke what the material might feel like and how it looks. Discuss the language of colours, shapes and marks and how they contribute to the whole work.

Activity 3

In pairs, pupils make notes about the work for a somebody who has not seen it, thinking about the size, material, processes used to make it and its placement in the gallery. They then adapt their descriptions for somebody who is visually impaired, using descriptions such as ‘the blanket is no longer soft and clean, and looks as if it has been left out in the rain and wind’ rather than ‘old blanket’.

PRACTICAL ACTIVITY PROMPTS AND IDEAS FOR DISCUSSION FOLLOWING YOUR VISIT:

Key Stage 1 and 2:

What can you make from blankets and wood? Explore den building as a means to create shelter and space.

Take a piece of plasticine, manipulate it by bending and squeezing but without pulling it apart. Leave in an amorphous shape. Using a selection of wrapping materials (including fabric, string, ribbons, tape) wrap, tie and knot together the materials to cover the plasticine shape. Ask the students to think about what their form could be, and to continue to model it with this in mind.

Key Stage 3:

Create moulds using clay or plasticine of familiar objects; cast these moulds using plaster of paris (under teacher / adult supervision) and observe how the plaster of paris records the detail of the cast object.

Key Stage 4:

Berlinde De Bruckyere make reference to Old Master painting. Examine the way that different modern and contemporary artists have responded to the History of Painting, examples could include Picasso and ‘Las Meninas ‘by Diego Velázquez; Manet and ‘The Venus of Urbino’ by Titian; Warhol and ‘The Last Supper’ by Leonardo da Vinci.

SUPPLEMENTARY RESEARCH

Baert, Barbara, Szeemann, Harald, ‘Berlinde De Bruyckere: One’, Prato: Gli Ori, 2005

Boehler, Arno [et al.], ‘Berlinde De Bruyckere: Suture’, Vienna: Leopold Museum, 2016

Nylén, Antti, Sederholm, Helena, ‘Berlinde De Bruyckere’, Finland: Sara Hildén Art Museum, 2018

Sagmeister, Rudolf [et al.], ‘Berlinde De Bruyckere: The Embalmer’, Bregenz: Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2015

‘In the studio of Berlinde De Bruyckere’, see here, 2015

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