Femmes Fatales - Fatale Vrouwen (1860-1910)
19 January 2003 - 4 May 2003
This large-scale international exhibition Fatale Vrouwen (1860-1910), focused on the femme fatale from the late nineteenth century. The exhibition featured oil paintings, watercolours, drawings, prints and an odd piece of sculpture. Various artists were represented, including John William Waterhouse, Fernand Khnopff, Gustave Moreau, Max Klinger, and Edvard Munch.
In the literature and visual art of the late nineteenth century, a remarkable amount of energy was devoted to work in which the male-female role was the dominant theme. Figures from Greek mythology and characters from the bible were frequently depicted. Sphinxes, Salomés, Cleopatras, Medeas, and Circes appeared everywhere. Topics such as power, sexuality, death, and the maltreated male served as a starting point for a closer look at the secrets of the femme fatale.
John William Waterhouse used narratives from Greek mythology. He manipulated the stories in such a way that the viewer becomes a part of his presentation, as with the painting Circe offering the cup to Ulysses. In the narrative, Circe offers Ulysses a magic potion. However, Ulysses is not visible in the painting, it is the viewer who has assumed his position, as it were. Ulysses’ presence is made known by the reflection in the mirror.
An artist that occupied a special place in the Fatale Vrouwen exhibition was the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, who built up an oeuvre with representations of sexually aggressive female figures. These works were assigned titles such as Vampire, Harpy, The Sphinx, Salomé, and The Woman and the Heart. Men are frequently portrayed as victims. The difference with other artists in the exhibition is that his work is primarily autobiographical.
Moral considerations have little significance to the femme fatale. Men are seduced and devoured.
With the Femme Fatale exhibition, the curator wanted to reach back to the theme of the exhibition Het Geheim (the Secret) in the Groninger Museum as far back as 1972. The policy of 2003 was to organise an exhibition that is rooted in the history of the nineteenth century at least once a year.
The exhibition has been realised in conjunction with the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Royal Museum for Fine Art) in Antwerp and will be shown in Antwerp after the expiry of the exhibition period in Groningen.
Stichting Fonds Kunst en Economie (Foundation Fund for Art and Economics)
The exhibition was realised by means of investment by the Stichting Fonds Kunst en Economie, which is an initiative of VNO-NCW Noord. The Foundation is financed by the Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland, EZ/Kompas.
Picture
John William Waterhouse, Circe hands the cup to Ulysses, 1881
