M HKA Ensembles

Painting, 115 x 88 cm.

Collection: Courtesy Koen van den Broek, Schilde.

For this work, Koen van den Broek was inspired by Leoš Janáček's opera The Makropoulos Case. He created a new image with samples from his own works of the Tracks series, which have also been published in books. Even though the lines and colour still predominate, there are also figurative elements included. In his work, he used elements that recur on a regular basis, such as the architectural fault lines and shadows. We also see references to art history, such as the Madonna of Fouquet for which Agnes Sorel, the legendary mistress of the French King Charles VII was a model. He attributes a life-sustaining role to the mistress / muse, much like the elixir around which everything revolves in The Makropoulos Case. Her collar symbolizes the stranglehold of the poisoned gift which is eternal life.