Information from the organizers
The technical term “tronie” in the field of art history is derived from Netherlandish parlance in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and means “head,” “face,” or “countenance.” It designates paintings of individual heads, bust length or half-figures, usually against a neutral background by painters such as Rubens, Rembrandt and Frans Hals. The works were painted from living models or exhibit a strongly individualized physiognomy, and they are characterized by a particularly free and striking use of artistic techniques. The research of recent years has concentrated intensively on the definition of the pictorial form, on its distinction from related categories such as the portrait and the single-figure genre representation, as well as on issues
concerning the origin and functions of tronies.
The dialogical exhibition featuring works by the South African-Dutch painter Marlene Dumas as well as by Old Masters demonstrates the potential for treating this theme in a manner transcending eras and disciplines. The accompanying symposium is intended to elaborate and to deepen this integrative approach through an interdisciplinary conversation among art historians, historians and literary scholars.
In order to explore the cultural-anthropological dimension of the phenomenon and to attain findings going beyond the research conducted up to now, the presentations concentrate upon the historical discourse concerning the human face and its perception. This gives rise to a new view with regard to the long-term development and transformation of the pictorial form, its reception, and the approaches of individual artists.
09:00
Welcome
Chris Dercon
09:15
Opening lecture
Thomas Kirchner (Kunstgeschichtliches Institut der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main)
Ausdruckstheorien von der Antike bis ins 18. Jahrhundert
10:00
Development and reception in early modern times I
Franziska Gottwald (Department of Art, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada)
Die Genese des Tronies aus den Studienköpfen des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts
10:45
Coffee break
11:15
Development and reception in early modern times II
Dagmar Hirschfelder (Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg)
Rezeption und Nachleben der niederländischen Tronie im 18. Jahrhundert
12:00
Perspectives in cultural history and comparative literature I
Arianne Baggerman (Universiteit van Amsterdam, Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen) and Rudolf Dekker (Center for the Study of Egodocuments and History, Amsterdam)
Looking at Oneself and at Others: Written Portraits in the Dutch Republic
12:45
Lunch break
14:00
Perspectives in cultural history and comparative literature II
Lia van Gemert (Universiteit van Amsterdam, Neerlandistiek, Directeur Amsterdams Centrum voor de Studie van de Gouden Eeuw)
Early Modern Dutch Poets and Scholars on the Meaning of Facial Expressions
14:30
Case studies I
Peter Black (Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery, University of Glasgow)
The Glasgow Head Study and Other Tronies by Rubens
15:15
Case studies II
Jan Muylle (Department of Art, Music and Theatre Sciences, Ghent University)
Rembrandt and Lagneau. About Tronies of Classic Scholars
15:45
Coffee break
16:15
Case studies III
Jan Nicolaisen (Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig)
Zwischen tronie und Kopie: Bemerkungen zu einigen Bildern der Rembrandt-Werkstatt in der Leipziger Sammlung
16:45
Case studies IV
León Krempel (Haus der Kunst, Munich)
Allegorische Kopf-Paare bei Johannes Vermeer
17:30
Closing discussion
Concept and moderation
Dagmar Hirschfelder, León Krempel
Lecture durations: 20 to 30 minutes each with subsequent discussion
Symposium languages German and English
The contributions to the symposium will be published at a later date. Early orders can be sent to krempel@hausderkunst.de.
Entrance: free. Registration is necessary, by email at events@hausderkunst.de or by telephone
at +49 (0)89 21127-113.
20:00
Artist’s lecture by Marlene Dumas
Entrance: 5 euros / 12 euros including the exhibition
Online reservation: www.hausderkunst.de
Information / registration until February 2 at events@hausderkunst.de or by telephone at +49 (0)89 21127-113.
Exhibition and symposium is sponsored by
Roland Berger Strategy Consultants