It is very difficult to present Maarten van Heemskerck as a complete unknown, even if that is indeed what the great Dutch artist is in the eyes of the public: we must therefore begin by saluting the means deployed by the three museums which welcome this retrospective organized, between Haarlem and Alkmaar, under the aegis of Christi M. Klinkert, stationed at the Frans Hals Museum since February 2024 after spending fifteen years at the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar. This tripartite will only surprise foreign visitors, none of these three museums being able to host – alone – such a rich exhibition, for which we will have nothing but praise. This exemplary event undoubtedly constitutes one of the most resounding successes of the year with its three exciting stages, very well constructed in order to convey the full artistic personality of this great name that enthusiasts more or less associate with “import” of the Italian Renaissance in the former Netherlands. Heemskerck is the author of one of the most fascinating self-portraits of the 16th century in Europe, where he depicts himself in front of the Colosseum: preserved at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, this one (ill. 5) of course made the trip – to Alkmaar – where it sits next to the Lille painting, a “Roman postcard” as the museum website presents it.
- 1. Maarten van Heemskerck (1498-1574)
Self-portrait in front of the Colosseum1553
Oil on panel – 42.2 x 54 cm
Cambridge, The Fitzwilliam Museum
Photo : Andrew Normant
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See the image on his page
Articulated around this founding Roman experience, the tripartite journey begins in Haarlem, where the visitor is advised to begin their stroll with the Frans Hals Museum before reaching the Teylers Museum then the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar, the two cities being easily connected by very efficient trains. This chronothematic walk allows for a better understanding of the artist, although each stage can be approached independently. The teams from these museums worked together with Ilja M. Veldman, the undisputed specialist on the artist who supervised the retrospective and wrote the catalog in the form of a monograph which accompanies it, in which the Art historian also recalls that she has been publishing on Heemskerck since 1971. Although it was certainly necessary to shoehorn this first stage into the rooms of the museum bearing the name of another artist celebrated this year (see the article), the presentation (ill. 2) does not suffer from this and offers stimulating confrontations between Heemskerck and other painters of his time.
- 2. Vue de l'exposition Marten van Heemskerck at Frans Hals Museum de Haarlem
Photo : Mike Bink
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See the image on his page
Plunging the modern visitor back into the artistic excitement of the city at the beginning of the 16th century, the first part of the triptych effectively places Heemskerck among its…
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