Bruges

For our first activity of 2018, AG DUTCH & FLEMISH paid a visit to the city of Bruges.

On Friday 20 April, we were welcomed by Evelien de Wilde, curator of the print room of the Groeningemuseum. First, Evelien guided us through the exhibition 'Haute Lecture by Colard Mansion. Innovating Text and Image in Medieval Bruges'. As a co-curator of the show, she was most fit to explain the many questions that surround this important figure of fifteenth-century Bruges. Mansion produced illuminated manuscripts, but also published illustrated books. In several cases, he combined both media. A large selection of incunabula and manuscripts are on display, including numerous international loans. The exhibition does not only deal with the studio practices of Colard Mansion, but also explores the relationship with copyists, printmakers and other artists and artisans.

Subsequently, we visited the study room of the print room. The collection is mainly based on the gift of roughly 14000 prints and 3000 drawings by the nineteenth-century collector John Steinmetz. Recently, the print room acquired the print collection of Guy van Hoorebeke, which contains more than 1500 prints of exceptional quality by various artists from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. After studying some highlights in detail, it was time for a well-deserved drink in the sun. We would like to thank Evelien for this enjoyable visit. The exhibition on Colard Mansion can be visited until 3 June.