Customer Reviews

The Master of Flémalle and Rogier van der Weyden

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This magnificent book, a catalogue of an exhibition recently held in Frankfurt and Berlin, will give the reader a superb overview of Campin and van der Weyden,two Flemish master painters. Being in possession of Felix Thueleman's excellent book on Campin(Prestel) I was worried that there would be too much overlap of content and paintings. I need not have been concerned. Although there are some similarities, much of the material is different. Another pleasure is the generous coverage of van der Weyden. There are few volumes of quality concerning this artist's work and they are very pricey.

The first half of the book contains scholarly essays of great interest. This is followed by a catalogue of the paintings seen in the exhibition. All the excellent reproductions are in colour. It is interesting to note that the authors ascribe the Descent from the Cross (in the Prado museum)to van der Weyden, whereas Thuelemann claims that it was painted by Campin.

This magnificent book should grace the shelves of all those interested in the art of this period. At the asking price it is amazing value

If you are not here by accident, imo as an amateur this is not-to-be missed. Usually catalogs of exhibitions seem weakened by the narrow selection and the motley essayists, whose myopic views are unorchestrated by the lead editor. Not here. And what a collection, presented in impeccably uniform and brilliant illustration on lush paper, in Goldilocks size, generous details, fascinating and encyclical scholarship and very harmonious essays. With 12 pages of bibliography, extensive dendrochornological charts, girandolic footnotes, there is always the risk of the ankle-tugging arcane, but for those scholars needing such, well, usually the reading flows nicely anyway, with strong arguments developed by very wide exposure to prior scholarship and myriads of pictoral sources. It's the deepest yet most enjoyable read of an exhibition I know. It dovetails well with other catalogs such as DeVos's superb but very expensive "Rogier van der Weyden, the Complete Works". Some questions may never become clear, such as who taught the van Eycks and Robert Campin, exactly how much exposure did these circles have to one another, how were the masters able to leave their ateliers going in order to make their huge trips. But the more important issues are mostly addressed here.
Have you made out the Virgin's image on St Luke's tablet before? Here it is. Have you wondered why the donor isn't looking at the Intercessor or heavenly beings in his presence? You'll find out. Have you been curious about that Stout Man? Now you have 7 pages worth to enjoy. Have you wondered how tough it must be to paint the rich and powerful fiance-become-Duchess when her face may, well, may not have been so symmetrical? Rogier was a superb portraitist. Look at Isabella and the perspective of her canthi, the twist of her columella and ask yourself what the Duke thought. And she's not the only one. Surely Rogier wouldn't have entrusted this to assistants? You'll have to read the discussion. And there is so much more. Even without Kemperdick/Sander the pictures alone would have been a great value. Together they are a screaming buy.

Although this wonderful book is also a catalogue - of an exposition held in Frankfurt and Berlin between February and June 2009 - it is not just that. The catalogue part, by the way, doesn't start until page 178, and treats 48 paintings, panels and altarpieces that is, mainly dividing them into the work of the so called Master of Flémalle, or his workshop and the people working there, and Rogier van der Weyden, with some small excursions into Jacques Daret. Those 48 paintings are extensively treated in just over 300 pages. Every one of them is of course shown, often also in detail. In 10 introductory essays, just as abundantly illustrated as the catalogue part, using about 200 illustrations, which are very well integrated in the text, several authors give historical background on just about everything you need to know to understand the problems surrounding Netherlandish painting in the 15th century: altarpieces, workshop traditions, and the realism of the Ars Nova, as it is called. I have been reading the catalogue together with Albert Châtelets Robert Campin, Master of Flémalle, which didn't make things easier. Châtelet ascribes 18 paintings to Campin. The authors of this catalogue, especially Kemperdick and Sander, are a lot more cautious.
The Master of Flemalle is of course a bit of a mystery, named as he is after a the place where some panels, acquired in 1849, now in the Frankfurt Städel, were said to come from. Flémalle is a village near Liège (Luik), now in Belgium. The seller of the panels said they came from an abbey there. But Flémalle doesn't have an abbey and never had. Gradually another set of paintings became associated with the same painter, who has since the beginning of the 20th century been identified as Robert Campin, from Tournai, also in what is now Belgium, but then in France. The problem is that there is literally not even one painting which can - in a documented way - be ascribed to Campin, although many art historians have done so on stylistic evidence. In the last century quite a body of work has been identified as at least coming from his workplace. An extra problem is that we know of at least of two well known painters who worked there, and also the names of some minor ones. Campin was born around 1375 and died 1444 (according to Chatelet 1445), and had an obviously thriving workshop there, where Jacques Daret is present "ouvrant de son metier" in 1418, and is enrolled as an apprentice in 1427, and where Rogier van der Weyden works, as an apprentice since 1427, and as a free master since 1432. Van der Weyden is working in Brussels from 1435. Of Van der Weydens itinerary in the 25 or so years before 1427 nothing is known. What this book tries to do is to distinguish between the group of panels and altarpieces associated with the Master of Flémalle, using dendrochronological and stylistical analysis. The last essay contains a ten page chart of all the panel paintings with dendrochronological information of the Flémalle panels, those of Daret, and of Van der Weyden. The thing I especially admire is the way in which the authors succeed in writing for a professional public and for the interested general reader (like me). In the foreword the museum directors of the Frankfurt Städel and the Berlin Gemäldegalerie write: "This is a very important exposition, a major research project, and a unique opportunity for many people, for scholars specialized in early Netherlandish art and interested members of a broader public alike." And so it is. The catalogue, published by Hatje Cantz, looks great too, with on the cover the lovely Berlin portrait of a young woman, by Rogier van der Weyden, a panel that originally had a deep blue background. The catalogue ascribes the London portrait of a young woman, traditionally attributed to the Master of Flémalle, to Van der Weyden as well, on account of tracing found in the underdrawing on the Berlin panel. And so, writes Kemperdick, just to illustrate the detective quality of the catalogue: "The same tracing could therefore have been used for both portraits, or the tracing could have been made after the London head and subsequently utilised for the picture in Berlin." And: "(...) the findings make it clear that the two pictures were undoubtedly produced produced in the same context." And that is really what this catalogue is about, and does in a magnificent way.

This book is superb. The articles are fascinating and the reproductions are beautiful. I also agree that it's a great value.