Luc Tuymans | Dead Skull 2010

Luc Tuymans

Dead Skull - 2010 [cat. 58.1]

Year:2010
Type:Silkscreen print
Size40.00 x 40.00 cm (17.00 x 17.00 cm)
Edition of:60 + XII AP
Edited by:Graphic Matter - Antwerpen
Available:Not available
Enquire about this work

Dead Skull

Screenprint in 11 colours on Velin BFK Rives 250 g/m2 paper 
Published by Graphic Matter, Ghent
Printed by Roger Vandaele, Antwerp, in collaboration with Sfumato, Antwerp, and Salto, Ulbeek
 
Signed and numbered in pencil
An additional 60 separate prints signed and numbered in Roman numerals
10 AP
 
 
DEAD SKULL
 
The first incarnation of Dead Skull was painted by Tuymans for documenta XI and is now in the collection of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. The painting is based on a plaque from the façade of the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, mounted in memory of Flemish artist Quinten Massys (1466-1530). Massys was a key figure in the formation of the Antwerp school of painting in the early part of the sixteenth century and, as such, stood at the dawn of Antwerp's Golden Age in the arts. This memorial plaque, placed in the seventeenth century by collector and patron of the arts Cornelis van der Geest (1555-1638), shows a skull and coat of arms, bearing the inscription 'in his time a smith and afterwards a famous painter'. This material was probably drawn from the gravestone - Massys was buried in the cathedral over a century before. In the nineteenth century the plaque was replaced by a duplicate; the original is now held by Antwerp's Museum Aan de Stroom.
 
The Antwerp city council asked Tuymans to create an artwork for the public square in front of the Museum aan de Stroom. The Museum building, designed by Willem-Jan Neutelings, dominates the skyline of the city and is a visual tribute to the Cathedral of Our Lady. Because of its deep connection to the city's history, Tuymans chose Dead Skull as the starting point for the new work. On 17 May 2010 the city unveiled Tuymans's creation: a mosaic based on Dead Skull, made from granite tesserae in eleven colours and covering 1,600 square metres, resulting in a permanent public landmark.
 
To commemorate the event, Tuymans collaborated with master printer Roger Vandaele to produce a screenprint of Dead Skull, along with an artist book detailing the mosaic's creation and installation. The format chosen for the 40 x 40 cm print is in direct proportion to the mosaic, which is precisely one hundred times larger. Like the mosaic, the screenprint uses only eleven colours, and is executed using the exact same colour separation as the mosaic, though Vandaele's extraordinary technique captures all the chromatic subtleties present in the original painting.
The subject of Dead Skull and its variations has a poignant and vaguely ironic undertone. Skulls traditionally symbolise the transience of life - the memento mori. The ambition to defy mortality through art is as ancient as it is futile: while the monumental scale of the Dead Skull mosaic immortalises the museum, the city of Antwerp, its history and its art, it simultaneously reminds us of impermanence and the certainty of death.

 

Luc Tuymans

Luc Tuymans (born 1958) is a Belgian artist who lives and works in Antwerp. Tuymans is considered one of the most influential painters working today.


This work seems to be unavailable at the moment.
Let us know if you're interested in it and we will search for an available edition for you.

Do you own this artwork and are you looking to sell it?
Send us an image and the details and we will send you a proposal to offer it on our website.