![]() ![]() However, his eyes can be seen peeking over the edge of the apple. The Son of Man, a self portrait of Magritte, depicts a man in an overcoat and a bowler hat but his face is largely obscured by a hovering green apple. If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter. Bosch succeeded in making new forms in a realistic manner – and that’s why hundreds, if not thousands, of young artists are inspired by him now.”Īlastair Sooke is Art Critic of The Daily Telegraph Every time an artist succeeds in making new things, we are astonished. In all sorts of areas of culture, but especially in art, people are trying to find new forms. “But I think his enormous creativity is inspiring younger people too. “The chaos of our own time is part of the story,” he admits. Yet de Mooij believes that there is also another reason for Bosch’s enduring popularity. ![]() It is easy to understand why Bosch continues to fascinate us today: the apocalyptic tone of his work resonates during our era of global conflict and international terrorism. Bosch has also become a touchstone for designers of fantasy computer games. George Lucas has even cited Bosch as the inspiration for the aliens in the Star Wars franchise. ![]() A number of film-makers were stimulated by Bosch’s work, among them Terry Gilliam, who considers himself a ‘huge’ fan of the artist, and Guillermo del Toro. The 20th Century, of course, was also the great era of cinema. He was also viewed (wrongly) as a heretic. Bosch was seen as a kind of proto-hippy – a prophet of the counterculture. At this moment, the frenzied, orgiastic coupling of lusty sinners in his paintings proved especially alluring. Later, during the 1960s, Bosch’s work became fashionable again, when free love and psychedelia were all the rage. “Salvador Dalí studied the works of Bosch, and recognised him as his predecessor.” “The Surrealists believed that Bosch was the first ‘modern’ artist,” says de Mooij. In particular, the Surrealists rehabilitated his reputation, because they admired his relish for depicting the “strangeness of life”. With the advent of modern art during the 20th Century, though, people started to look at Bosch afresh. “After Romanticism, there was a large interest in the Middle Ages,” explains de Mooij, “and people saw Bosch as one of the Flemish Primitives – though not the best of them.” At first, he was associated with the so-called ‘Flemish Primitives’, the Early Netherlandish painters active during the 15th and 16th Centuries. In 1593, King Philip II transferred The Garden of Earthly Delights to the monastery, mausoleum and palace he had founded at San Lorenzo de El Escorial.Įlsewhere, though, it wasn’t until the revival of interest in medieval art during the second half of the 19th Century that Bosch returned to prominence. The only European country where he was not forgotten was Spain. Gradually Bosch’s art started to look old-fashioned. Surprisingly, though, given his fame today, his idiosyncratic imagery fell out of favour in the decades following his death. He counted noblemen such as Philip the Fair, Duke of Burgundy, among his patrons, and inspired countless imitators during the 16th Century. In his own day, Bosch, who married into wealth, was a successful and popular artist who moved within the upper echelons of society. One thing the brilliant Noordbrabants Museum exhibition does not examine, however, is Bosch’s influence upon subsequent Western art and culture. Look how he enjoyed painting the strangeness of life.” ![]() “But I believe he must have been a man of humour. “People ask whether Bosch was a pessimist, because he depicted hell so often,” says de Mooij. It seems he found jubilation in his peculiar creations, as well as fire and brimstone. In this particular case, then, Bosch’s pocket-sized demons are sweet and amusing, rather than scary. They look like domesticated sprites and imps, running amok inside a kitchen. In the foreground we see several demons, including a hooded, spoon-billed creature sitting politely at a table covered with a white cloth, and a frantic, diminutive swordsman, wearing an upturned funnel. ![]()
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