Spaces as Portraiture

The empty interior as subject

Artists have often used interiors as backgrounds: settings for genre scenes, mythological tales or historical events. But for centuries the empty interior has also been a favourite subject. In the 19th century, artists regularly painted their own studios. Inspired by 17th-century studio scenes, they produced carefully orchestrated still lifes of tables, brushes, frames and easels, or dusty interiors full of props like skulls and ceramics. The absence of narrative or human presence seems to give the interior a character of its own. Modern and contemporary artists have taken this a step further. The early pictures of time-worn interiors and abandoned studios painted by German artist Matthias Weischer evoke the past and therefore reference our own memories. In his quest to find a way to depict the interior life itself, Weischer has omitted more and more elements. But his ‘Resonanzräume’, rooms for reflection, never become completely abstract.

The presentation "Space as portraiture"  comprises 12 works by APT artist Lilian Kreutzberger, Jan Toorop, Gino Severini, Marie van Regteren Altena, Johannes Bosboom, Jan Weissenbruch, Frans Zwartjes, George Hendrik Breitner and Matthias Weischer.