Untitled (Still Life)

2002

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

This ostensibly banal depiction of a jug and fruit was inspiredby the tragic, extraordinary events of 9/11, which Tuymans witnessed. The work was first shown at an especially polemical iteration of the international exhibition documenta in 2002. There it defied expectations, rejecting the demand for social commentary and refusing to represent what Tuymans believed was unrepresentable. The work was inspired by an unfinished still life by Cézanne. However, the void surrounding the practically transparent motif assumes an unsettling presence; the traditional subject, in its overscale presence, gains an abstract quality.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: Untitled (Still Life)
Artist: Luc Tuymans (Belgian, born Mortsel, 1958)
Date: 2002
Geography: Country of Origin Belgium
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 11 ft. 4 5/8 in. × 16 ft. 4 7/8 in. (347 × 500 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Pinault Collection
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art