The beautiful 17th century mansion Mauritshuis in The Hague is the palace of the great Dutch masters. Rembrandt, Potter, Vermeer: familiar names in the museum that houses one of the best collections of the Netherlands. So my surprise was big when Museologue received an invitation for the press showcase of the new exhibition of VIK MUNIZ. A contemporary artist! Brazilian! What’s going on? Well, check out what this known and successful artist did with the paintings of the great masters…
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The other side of art
Ever wondered what the backside of famous paintings looks like? It’s full of stickers, marks, tags, and other codes that identify the story of the painting. It shows the places it has traveled to, the museums that have displayed it, who has owned it over the centuries, and sometimes even where it was kept during the war. A fascinating side of paintings that you never. ever. see. Until now!
Vik Muniz is just as fascinated with the flip side of paintings as we are and made a project of it. In cooperation with Mauritshuis he set up his project of researching famous paintings in the collection and copied them. 15 paintings are shown exactly the way they actually are, on the side that normally only the museum staff sees. Literally every little scratch and stamp of these shadow sides have been copied. So what’s on the back of the Girl with the Pearl Earring? You can find out in the new exhibition in the museum called Vik Muniz: Verso.
Who is Vik Muniz?
Multi material artist, that’s the job description of Vik Muniz. He works with various materials from chocolate to coffee beans and diamonds. And now wood, stickers, and canvas are the media. In short, Muniz is one the big names in the contemporary art world right now. He had his works shown in countless exhibitions around the whole world over the past 30 years. The MoMA, MET and Victoria and Albert Museum carry works of Muniz, along with other museums in different countries. It’s very worth it to do a search in Google Images to spot some of the cool things Muniz has created. And it definitely is a chance to spot some in real life in The Hague.
The exhibition Vik Muniz: Verso
Have a great time in Mauritsmuseum from June 9 until September 4. It’s the first ever contemporary art exhibition in the famous museum, so you’re seeing something special. The website of Mauritshuis serves you all the information you need. You find the museum in the center of town. You can walk (10 minutes) or catch a tram. Done with the exhibition? Then you will love the actual fronts of paintings by the Dutch masters in the rest of the museum, including the ones you have actually seen the backs of. As if you meet the lady after sneak viewing her panties.
Images top to bottom:
Verso 2 Vik Muniz, Starry Night 2008
Verso 7 Vik Muniz, View of Delft, 2016
Vik Muniz Photo by: Ivo Hoekstra
View of Delft (backside research) Photo by: Ivo Hoekstra
