Exhibition ‘Govert Flinck – Reflecting History’ with an artistic intervention by Ori Gersht, Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Cleves / Germany (04/10/2015 – 17/01/2016) The exhibition Govert Flinck – Reflecting History will be shown at the Museum Kurhaus Kleve – Ewald Mataré-Collection from the 4th of October 2015 until the 17th of January 2016. His four hundredth birthday in 2015 provides the occasion for the Museum Kurhaus Kleve to show a comprehensive solo exhibition that will represent the first retrospective in more than fifty years. Govert Flinck (1615-1660), was one of the most prominent portraitists during the Golden Age of Dutch painting and became one of the most celebrated painters of his time in Amsterdam. Even today he is regarded as one of Rembrandt’s most gifted pupils. Already during his lifetime, his fame had by far exceeded that of his teacher. For the Cleves exhibition, precious works on loan from all over the world are expected. 30 paintings and an equal amount of drawings and prints are to illuminate the career of Govert Flinck, his proximity to and dependence on Rembrandt, as well as his development into an artistically independent, successful painter. Both the rich diversity in his oeuvre as well as the high quality of his portraits and historical paintings are made visible. Prints based on his paintings and poetry written about his works give insight into the contemporary reception of his art. Govert Flinck was born on the 25th of January of the year 1615 in Cleves, as son to a well-respected textile trader. In his early youth he moved to Leeuwarden and shortly after to Amsterdam for an education in the art of painting. Throughout his life, Cleves remained a place of connection for him, not only because of his parents but also through numerous commissions. Prince-elector Friedrich Wilhelm and his governor in Cleves, Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen, ensured that the artist visit Cleves regularly even in later years. At the time of his death in 1660 Govert Flinck still retained possessions in his native city. During the Dutch Golden Age Govert Flinck ascended to one of the most renowned painters in Amsterdam. He portrayed the Amsterdam patrician and magistrate and painted numerous works in public places, among others for the Amsterdam city hall (today ‘Koninklijk Paleis op de Dam’) which was built during his time. When Govert Flinck died on the 2nd of February in 1660 without having completed his main commission, twelve paintings for the gallery of the new city hall, the Dutch poet Joost van den Vondel called him the Kleefsche Apelles which amounted to the highest honor. The exhibition will be complemented by an artistic intervention of the Israeli-British photographer and video artist Ori Gersht (*1967 in Tel Aviv) who has developed a monumental photographic series specifically for Cleves in reaction to the works of the old master. In his series Gersht refers to the lucrative relationship between the painter and his commissioners. Gersht investigates the structures and characteristics of Govert Flinck’s oeuvre with regard to the essence of artistic freedom, juxtaposing his own position to it. The artist has created portraits of 13 patrons and supporters of the museum from Cleves in the old masters’ style of presentation. The video installation refers to the technological changes of the visual world of the 17th century, presenting them with present-day means. The exhibition will be accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue published in two languages (German and English) containing numerous Essays by international experts on the seventeenth century as well as an edition about the patrons from Cleves by Ori Gersht. For further information about the exhibition visit the museum website through the following link: http://www.museumkurhaus.de/de/ausstellungen_vorschau.html, or contact Susanne Figner, PhD (ABD): tel. 0049 / 2821 / 750 1-15 and e-mail [email protected] for further questions. The exhibition will be sponsored by Minister for Family, Youth, Culture and Sport of the State of North-Rhine Westphalia www.mfkjks.nrw.de Ernst von Siemens Cultural Foundation www.ernst-von-siemens-kunststiftung.de Rudolf—August Oetker-Stiftung www.oetker-stiftungen.de The City of Cleves www.kleve.de Rhineland Savings Banks’ Cultural Foundation www.sks-rheinland.de Sparkasse Kleve – Premium partner of the Museum Kurhaus Kleve www.sparkasse-kleve.de Freundeskreis Museum Kurhaus und Koekkoek-Haus Kleve e.V. www.freunde-klever-museen.de Irene Zintzen-Foundation Hypo-Art foundation www.hypo-kulturstiftung.de Provinzial – Lohmann & Reinders OHG www.lohmann-reinders.de With the kind support of The Rilano Hotel Cleve City www.rilano-hotel-kleve.de WDR 3 – Cultural partner of the Museum Kurhaus Kleve www.wdr3.de Exhibition ‘Govert Flinck – Reflecting History’ with an artistic intervention by Ori Gersht, Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Cleves / Germany (04/10/2015 – 17/01/2016) Press Images: captions Govert Flinck Self-portrait, 1643 © The Leiden Collection, New York Govert Flinck Girl by a high chair, 1640 © Mauritshuis, Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen / Royal Picture Gallery, The Hague Govert Flinck Portrait of Gerard Pietersz Hulft, 1654 © Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Govert Flinck Rembrandt as Shepherd, 1636 © Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Govert Flinck Portrait of a Man, 1640 © Museum Kurhaus Kleve – Ewald Mataré-Collection. Cleves / Germany Ori Gersht The Patrons Portfolio (Adele and Werner van Ackeren), 2015 © Museum Kurhaus Kleve – Ewald Mataré-Collection, Cleves / Germany Exhibition ‘Govert Flinck – Reflecting History’ with an artistic intervention by Ori Gersht, Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Cleves / Germany (04/10/2015 – 17/01/2016) Program ‘Guided tour for the members of the Society of Friends’: Guided tour through the exhibition Govert Flinck – Reflecting History, Wednesday 07/10/2015, 7:30 p.m. ‘Govert Flinck’s Paintings in Amsterdam’: Art trip for the members of the Society of Friends to permanently installed works of Govert Flinck in the Hermitage of Amsterdam and the Koninklijk Paleis op de Dam (the former Amsterdam city hall), Saturday 07/11/2016, guided tour by Tom van der Molen, M.A. und Valentina Vlasic, M.A. ‘Curators’ Talk’: Museum director Prof. Harald Kunde in conversation with the curators of the exhibition Govert Flinck – Reflecting History, Tom van der Molen, M.A. and Valentina Vlasic, M.A., Thursday 05/11/2015, 7:30 p.m. ‘Guided tour for the members of the Society of Friends’: Guided tour through the exhibition Govert Flinck – Reflecting History, Wednesday 13/01/2016, 7:30 p.m. ‘Artists’ Talk’: Museum director Prof. Harald Kunde in conversation with the Israeli- British photographer and video artist Ori Gersht, Thursday 14/01/2016, 7:30 p.m. ‘Workshops and Studios: Workshops for children and adolescents take place each Saturday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m., studios for adults take place every second Saturday of the month from 2 to 4 p.m. ‘Public tours’: Guided tours will take place every Sunday at 11:30 a.m., participation is free. ‘Audio guides’: Two weeks after the opening of the exhibition audio guides, which give information regarding the exhibition and viewed objects in short contributions, will be available in the museum (rental fee: 2 €). Exhibition ‘Govert Flinck – Reflecting History’ with an artistic intervention by Ori Gersht, Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Cleves / Germany (04/10/2015 – 17/01/2016) Ori Gersht Biography 1967 Born in Tel-Aviv, Israel 1989–1992 BA (Hons) in Photography, Film and Video, University of Westminster, London, England 1993–1995 MA in Photography, Royal College of Art, London, England 2000 Leon Constantiner Photography Award for an Israeli Artist, Tel Aviv, Israel 2003 Commissioned by the Contemporary Art Society to produce sight specific work for the Nottingham Castle Museum in relation to the exhibition Drawing with Light 2003 BBC White City Public Art Strategy Photographic Commission 2004 First Prize winner, Onfuri International, Tirana, Albania 2005 The Forest, a film commissioned by Film & Video Umbrella 2006 Big Bang, a film commissioned by the V&A for the exhibition Twilight: Photography in the Magic Hour 2006 Pomegranate, a short film commissioned by Film & Video Umbrella and the Film Council UK as part of the Single Shot project 2002–2007 Consultant to the architectural development planning of the South London Gallery 1997–2008 Senior lecturer, school of Photography, BA(Hons) & MA, at the Kent Institute of Art & Design, England 2004–2008 Research reader at the Kent Institute of Art & Design, England 2006–2008 Professor of Photography at University College of Creative Art, England: MA course supervisor, Research degree supervisorLives and works in London, England Exhibitions 2012 This Storm Is What We Call Progress, Imperial War Museum, London, England (solo) 2010 Latitudes, Huelva, Spain (solo) 2009 When a painting moves… something must be rotten!; moving painting or the Dialectics of Techno-Referentiality, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Flower Power, Villa Giulia – Centro Ricerca Arte Attuale, Turin, Italy; Tel Aviv Times, Tel Aviv Museum of Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel; Hugging and Wrestling: Contemporary Israeli Photography and Video, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, USA; Kosher & Co., Jewish Museum, Berlin, Germany 2008 Static: Contemporary Still Life and Portraiture, Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston, England; The Aerials of Sublime Transscapes, Lokaal 1, Breda, The Netherlands; Depletion, works from the Doron Sebbag Collection, Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv,