Afterthoughts on "Old & New Masters from Antwerp" at the National Museum
It was in my plan to catch the exhibition all along. But there were always things going on and I had pushed it back several times. Yesterday, I managed to see it, finally. I planned to do a one-hour tour. It would have been just right, if not for the fact that I was confronted with a horde of noisy students as I entered the hall. Just my luck. It took a full 15 minutes before the teenagers shipped out. The general feel I gathered of the whole set up was not excellent, but it was alright. Although I strove hard to see a coherent theme or structure for the various 'rooms', it was hard to understand the curator's motivations and objectives. I do not claim to be knowledgeable in modern art, but the least I can do is to have a general feel and appreciation of certain types of installation and sculpture. There is one piece of work which provoked an unexpected reaction on my part. It was the installation piece "Flanders Field" by Berlinde de Bruyckere. The anti-war them