Curators
Till-Holger Borchert, chief curator of the Groeningemuseum
Tomàs Llorens, chief curator of the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, and Colin B. Bailey, chief curator of the Frick Collection, are coordinating the presentations at their respective institutions.
Exhibition information
This touring exhibition of paintings by the important Netherlandish artist Hans Memling (c. 1440-1494) is organized by the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in collaboration with the Groeningemuseum, Bruges and The Frick Collection, New York. The exhibition provides an overview of Memling’s successful career in portraiture, with a selection of approximately thirty portraits by the master and his school, including portrait-wings from diptychs and triptychs along with autonomous panels of individual patrons. Additional paintings unique to each venue’s showing have also been chosen to illuminate topics of particular relevance to Memling’s work: the exchange of influences with contemporary portraiture from Italy and Germany (Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza); issues of patronage relating to donor-portraits (Groeningemuseum); and the role of the workshop in artistic production (The Frick Collection). This concentrated study not only illuminates the career of a Renaissance master, but also explores the function of portraiture in the Netherlands during the fifteenth century. Memling’s Portraits makes its debut at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, in February 2005, then travels to the Groeningemuseum, Bruges, in June 2005, before its presentation at The Frick Collection in October 2005, the final venue of the tour.
Catalogue
Till-Holger Borchert, with contributions by Maryan W. Ainsworth, Lorne Campbell and Paula Nuttall, De portretten van Memling, edited by Marijke van der Glas and Paul van Calster
191 pp.
31 cm.
Dutch edition published in Ghent and Amsterdam by Ludion, the originating publisher of the co-editions.
ISBN 90-5544-544-4 hardbound
ISBN 90-5544-541-X softbound
French edition (Les portraits de Memling) published in Paris by Flammarion
ISBN 90-5544-545-2 (hardbound)
ISBN 90-5544-542-8 (softbound)
English edition (Memling’s portraits) published in New York by Abrams and in London by Thames and Hudson
ISBN 90-5544-560-6 (hardbound)
ISBN 90-5544-550-9 (softbound)
Other venues
Brugge, Groeningemuseum (8 June-4 September 2005)
New York, The Frick Collection (12 October-31 December 2005)