Jan Van Imschoot - La présentation des absents

Following on from his 2020 exhibition, Le bouillon de onze heures, a homage to Dutch artist Willem Claeszoon Heda, Flemish painter Jan Van Imschoot is unveiling the second part of a trilogy dedicated to the masters of Western painting. La Présentation des absents sets up an encounter between two imaginaries: the artist’s and that of the man he considers to be the unrivalled master of modern French painting, Édouard Manet.

Van Imschoot wanted first and foremost to pay tribute to Manet's deep-reaching knowledge of the traditional Northern School and his admiration of Flemish painting, possibly sparked by his relationship with Dutch pianist Suzanne Leenhoff who went on to become his wife. Van Imschoot set himself the task of studying Manet's language, much as Shakespearean language is learned, with a particular focus on his intriguing palette, constantly shifting between "Inquisition grey" and "the light taupe of Dutch religion."

L’échange des bêtises, La Présentation des Absents and L’empire se trompe give us a glimpse of the modernist's scenes, from Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe to Un bar des Folies Bergères, or the series of seascapes and still lifes with asparagus.