Following the exhibition on Windows, from the Renaissance to the Present Day in 2013, the Fondation de l’Hermitage continues its exploration of major themes in western iconography by inviting visitors to discover the many facets of shadow. The exhibition will feature an entirely new selection of nearly 140 artworks, representing 500 years of the history of art and a diverse range of artistic forms, from painting to installation, sculpture, prints, drawings, cut-outs, photography and video.
Following the exhibition on Windows in 2013, the Fondation de l’Hermitage continues its exploration of major themes in western iconography by inviting visitors to discover the many facets of shadow. The exhibition will feature an entirely new selection of nearly 140 artworks, representing 500 years of the history of art and a diverse range of artistic forms, from painting to installation, sculpture, prints, drawings, cut-outs, photography and video.
The masterpieces on show reflect the sustained interest artists have shown in shadow, from self-portraits (Rembrandt, Delacroix) to explorations of perspective (Bandinelli, de Hooch), chiaroscuro (Cambiaso, Jordaens, Wright of Derby) and the dramatic landscape of the Romantics (Friedrich, Carus, Bendz). Highpoints of the exhibition include shadow in the work of the Impressionists (Monet) and post-Impressionists (Cross, Sorolla), and a section bringing together the disturbing, paradoxical uses of shadow in the work of the symbolists (Degouve de Nuncques, Spilliaert), expressionists (Munch), surrealists (Dalí, Magritte, Ernst) and the New Objectivity (Schad, Stoecklin). The use of shadow in modern and contemporary art is reflected in iconic works by Picasso, Warhol, Boltanski and Kosuth, while video artists (Acconci, Otth, Maisonnasse) reinterpret the great founding myths linking shadow to art and knowledge, from Plato to Pliny. The exhibition is enhanced by a large photographic section, notably including striking images by Steichen, Ray, Friedlander and Tillmans, revealing that photography too has its constant shadow…
Catalogue
The exhibition’s richly illustrated catalogue, published in partnership with La Bibliothèque des Arts, Lausanne, contains a foreword by Sylvie Wuhrmann and Aurélie Couvreur and essays by Marco Costantini, Corinne Currat, Michel Hilaire, Dominique Hoeltschi, Patrizia Lombardo, Dominique Païni, Michel Pastoureau, Didier Semin, Victor Stoichita.
Curators
Victor I. Stoichita, Professor of art history in the modern period at the University of Fribourg
Sylvie Wuhrmann, Director of the Fondation de l’Hermitage
Aurélie Couvreur, Curator at the Fondation de l’Hermitage