From Vermeer to Van Gogh

This digital exhibition presents the genius of the painters of the North through a complete immersion in authentic paintings that are faithful representations of nature and its themes. The monumental basins are the perfect setting for a daydream along the Flemish canals. You will explore the reality of daily life, following in the footsteps of the great masters who represented the ordinary in an extraordinary way.

Painting light and atmosphere is the exhibition’s main theme. Direct or subdued, cold or warm, the light reveals the facades and the privacy of family homes. You will set sail and berth your boats in the cities and stroll around in Vermeer’s world, in which the inhabitants invite us to step into the canvas. Much like a filmmaker, Vermeer chose what to include inside the frame and created a world suspended in time. His canvases are like synopses that open the doors to an almost Hitchcockian mystery, in which you become a part of the mise en scène.

Master of chiaroscuro, Rembrandt encourages the introspection. Night falls in the heart of the cathedrals, immersing you in a spiritual atmosphere surrounded by biblical themes. An unrivalled portraitist who achieved a powerful realism, his Night Watch brings the procession of portraits to a climactic end. From Abraham Blommaert’s kingdom of the gods to Hendrick Avercamp’s expanses of ice, the seascapes by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom and Jan Steen’s festive tavern scenes, the exhibition plunges us into the fascinating world of seventeenth-century Holland.

Van Gogh, a worthy successor to these seventeenth-century painters, takes us under the summer and night skies of the South of France. Using bright colours and imbuing his work with intense emotion, he sculpted the paint and sublimated the landscapes, self-portraits, and still lifes. Like a final colourful bouquet, you are surrounded by nocturnal and dreamlike paintings, losing their way in the stars.

Artistic Direction: Virginie Martin / Staging and video animation: Cutback / Musical Collaboration: Start Rec / Production: Culturespaces Studio ®