This also implies always seeking the new, and disassociating itself from the traditional or conservative. Modern is here used with the meaning of ‘contemporary’, that is, of its time. This photography drew on specifically photographic means and a new way of seeing in order to achieve its objective. In this article ‘modern art photography’ will be understood as photography that aspires to be art (in contrast to applied and/or documentary photography), and which thereby also explicitly distinguishes itself from the traditional salon photography of pictorialism. Modern art photography in Belgium went through a crucial phase between 19, which was to be definitive for the course of Belgian photographic history. Post-war photography in Belgium can also be seen in the light of the dominant existentialism of the 1950s, with which the artist’s individual thinking and acting fit well. Rather, it was the intellectual outlook that was permeated with an ‘existential’ mood. Although this attitude was not operative in Belgium either explicitly or unconsciously, its traces were nonetheless to be found.’ Most people were not consciously involved with this philosophical current, nor had they read books by Sartre and Albert Camus (1913-1960). Phil Mertens (1928-1989), former director of the department of Modern Art at the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique in Brussels, summed it up thus: ‘Isolation and existential experience always dominated the spirit of these first post-war years. Existentialism was further characterized by an emphasis on individuality, individual freedom and subjectivity. Man was central to this thought: the subject was brought to the foreground. The avant-garde of the inter-war years, and the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) provided new tools for understanding life. After all, the war had not only affected the physical environment and industry, but also the intellectual climate. The recognition became still more manifest when Images Inventées travelled on to the Vrije Academie in The Hague and Das Städtische Museum Schloß Morsbroich in Leverkusen, Germany.Īfter the Second World War Europe was dominated by reconstruction and rebuilding life in general. The organizers worked together with the German photographer Otto Steinert, who lent the exhibition added prestige and an international character. This article will examine the importance that the photo exhibition Images Inventées had in achieving foreign recognition and piloting photography into the Belgian art world. A small group of photographers – Robert Besard, Pierre Cordier, Julien Coulommier, Gilbert De Keyser, Antoon Dries, Marcel Permantier and Serge Vandercam – fought for the acknowledgement of photography as art at a time in which, in Belgium, there was little consciousness of the possibilities for photography in general. These latter terms are rare in English they are more commonly used in German but not in French.Post-war photography in Belgium can be seen in the light of the dominant existentialism of the 1950s, with which the artist’s individualistic thinking and acting fit well. Larger art exhibitions also may have such an event at half time of the exhibition called a midissage. There also is a comparable ceremonial ending of art exhibitions, called a finissage. Nowadays, for commercial shows it is an opportunity to market the works on sale to buyers and critics. The custom of patrons and the élite of visiting the academies during the varnishing day prior to the formal opening of the exhibition gave rise to the tradition of celebrating the completion of an art work or a series of art works with friends and sponsors. If the vernissage is not open to the public, but only for invited guests, it is often called a private view.Īt official exhibitions, such as the Royal Academy summer exhibition, artists, in the past, would give a finishing touch to their works by varnishing them. Guests may be served canapés and wine as they discuss with artists and others the works in the exhibition. Freebase 0.0 / 0 votes Rate this definition:Ī vernissage is a term used for a preview of an art exhibition, which may be private, before the formal opening.
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