From Flemish landscape to modern art · Entering under the canopy

Paths, ponds, horsemen, festivals, clearings and forest soils show the forest as a territory of passage, refuge, memory, rite or laboratory of light.

The forest is one of the rare landscapes that surrounds the eye instead of immediately offering it a horizon. In Flemish painting, Jan Brueghel the Elder and his heirs multiply trunks, paths, travelers and ponds to guide the viewer through meticulous depth. Denys van Alsloot combines plant precision and public event in the Festival of Notre-Dame de la Forêt, a memory of the Brussels celebrations of 1615. In the 17th century, Simon de Vlieger or Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom make the undergrowth a circulation space for riders, dogs and walkers. In the 17th century, Simon de Vlieger or Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom made the undergrowth a circulation space for riders, dogs and walkers. In the 17th century, Simon de Vlieger or Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom made the undergrowth a circulation space for riders, dogs and walkers. In the 17th century, Simon de Vlieger or Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom made the undergrowth a circulation space for riders, dogs and walkers. In the 17th century, Simon de Vlieger and Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom made the undergrowth a circulation space for riders, Harpignies observe trees, soils, seasons and edges as autonomous subjects. The modern forest can finally become memory for Utrillo, colorful tension for Lovis Corinth, interiority for Helene Schjerfbeck or almost abstract matter for James Ensor. The collection also crosses other traditions, notably the narrative forests of Thai and Indian manuscripts. Choosing an undergrowth therefore amounts to choosing a relationship to space: open path, protective mass, reflective water, luminous clearing or mysterious depth. The selection "Forest landscapes and undergrowth" therefore amounts to choosing a relationship to space: open path, protective mass, reflective water, luminous clearing or mysterious depth. The "Forest landscapes and undergrowth" selection therefore compares the Festival of Our Lady of the Forest and Forest Path next to a fordable pond with travelers. His reading favors light.

In the undergrowth, depth does not come from a distant horizon: it is built from trunk to trunk, from shadow to light and step by step.