Koen van den Broek

2010

Film, 93.5 x 85.5 cm .
Materials: oil on canvas

Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp / Collection Flemish Community (Inv. no. BK7803_M507).

With Madonna, Koen van den Broek demonstrates his affinity with classical painting.Van den Broek originally made this painting for the exhibition Masterpieces in the MAS at Antwerp’s Museum Aan de Stroom. Here, the clear reference is to Jean Fouquet’s 1452 painting Madonna surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubim. Fouquet’s use of color and compositional division indeed find echoes in Van den Broek’s Madonna, but the in-part abstracted execution is typical for Koen van den Broek’s oeuvre. This iconic image for the exhibition Masterpieces in the MAS and the accompanying book Visual Thinking. Five Centuries of Images in Antwerp, wherein visual thinking from the 19th century is thematised.

About M HKA / Mission Statement

The M HKA is a museum for contemporary art, film and visual culture in its widest sense. It is an open place of encounter for art, artists and the public. The M HKA aspires to play a leading role in Flanders and to extend its international profile by building upon Antwerp's avant-garde tradition. The M HKA bridges the relationship between artistic questions and wider societal issues, between the international and the regional, artists and public, tradition and innovation, reflection and presentation. Central here is the museum's collection with its ongoing acquisitions, as well as related areas of management and research.

About M HKA Ensembles

The M HKA Ensembles represent our first steps towards initiating the public to today's art-related digital landscape. With the help of these new media, our aim is to offer our artworks a better and fuller array of support for their presentation and public understanding.