The fabulous world of Nicolas Eekman is not what you think. So be careful of appearances because we are neither facing a contemporary of Hieronymus Bosch nor of Arcimboldo. And yet, how can we not see in his truculent sketches the fantastic and unbridled work of the greatest geniuses of the early Flemish 16th century? Wonderfully anachronistic, this Dutch painter and engraver of Breughelian fantasy counted among his closest friends… Piet Mondrian and Max Ernst.

At a time when the whole world swears by abstraction, minimalism or American pop art, Nicolas Eekman imagines a secular universe with a deliciously old-fashioned charm, haunted by monsters and hybrid creatures freely inspired by the devilries of the Middle Ages . Between the scenes teeming with characters and the funny portraits of peasants at work, the Museum of Flanders plunges us into the mischievous mind of a devil maker whose metaphorical language of his infernal visions will soon no longer be a mystery to us.

Did you know?
Since he was little, Nicolas Eekman loved stories. That's good, the painter was born in Brussels in the house where Victor Hugo, then in exile, began writing one of his greatest masterpieces: Les Misérables.

Museum of Flanders
From April 6 to September 8, 2024
26 grand’ place, 59670 Cassel
Book here