Director Sjarel Ex. Photo: Aad Hoogendoorn
The Favourites of... Director Sjarel Ex
If he was allowed to take only ten works from the collection to a - climate controlled - desert island, which would they be?
Sjarel Ex was appointed director of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in June 2004 and since then has taken responsibility for the museum’s artistic and management policy. View his selection below.
The Glorification of the Virgin - Geertgen tot St Jans
"A small panel from the period when the veneration of the Virgin Mary was at its peak. Mary seems to be depicted in an egg, encircled by angels playing musical instruments. It is a pretty absurd little work. Notice the salamanders at her feet. Did this inspired painting by the Haarlem-based painter Geertgen tot St Jans, dated to 1492, possibly predate the work of Hieronymus Bosch?"
Virgin and Child in the Clouds - Grünewald
"This Virgin fantasy by Matthias Grünewald was made slightly before Geertgen's version. The drawing is charmingly precise and yet rather mysterious. The use of colour is remarkable: is it the moon or a divine light source? Grünewald was a kindred spirit of Hieronymus Bosch: see his Isenheim Altarpiece in the Musée Unterlinden in Colmar. Grünewald’s monsters are unrivalled."
The Oeuvre of Bas Jan Ader
"The museum owns a unique collection of 29 works by this artist, including all his photographs and films and the proof strips and try-outs for his film works. It is one of the crown jewels in the museum’s modern art collection. The original works – i.e. those authorised by the artist himself and brought to the museum by his friends because his widow was creating new works and enlarging editions – have been preserved in their entirety by the museum since 1992. In 2006 the museum published a catalogue raisonné of his oeuvre. At his widow’s request the negatives have recently been transferred to the Stedelijk Museum, but Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen retains the right to show the works and to loan them out. Ader is one of the most regularly requested artists in the museum’s collection."
Lady at a Virginal - Metsu
"A fascinating aspect of an artwork is how it creates space. Is there a foreground and a background? Is it inside or outside? Does the artist follow the laws of perspective? Gabriël Metsu created this beautiful scene in the mid-17th century in a city in the Low Countries. There are bare floorboards that have just been swept and a woman is playing a virginal by a famous instrument maker. Sounds wander via the window into the street. The light and air are pregnant with expectation."
Peanut-Butter Platform - Schippers
"The concept of the Peanut-Butter Platform is strong, clear and for many overwhelming. I first encountered it at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht in a retrospective of Wim T. Schippers work, where it was installed for the first time since 1962. In 2010 Boijmans purchased the idea, and briefly the country seemed too small for a platform of this size and consistency. Wim T. Schippers’ ideas are always big and small. The unique thing about this idea is that it tastes and smells of peanut butter."
Peanut-Butter Platform - Wim T. Schippers, 1962
peanut butter, purchase with the support of Mondriaanfonds 2010
The Smoking Fire - Piranesi
"In the architecture of Piranesi, who lived in the 18th century, everything is possible. At least on paper, since this architect barely built a single structure. The museum’s print room contains his ‘Carceri’ - prisons or dungeons - a magnificent series of etchings that are sinister and fascinating in equal measure. They continue to inspire architects, filmmakers and artists to this day."
Frog Table - Jongerius
"I don’t really have much of a connection with frogs but this oversized example, clambering over the table, stole my heart. More or less carved from the same wood, one foot still on the ground, one half grey. An unreal yet lovable pet. On his way to an unguarded salad or bowl of porridge, and maybe he need a fresh newspaper."
Paysage avec nuages roses - Tanguy
"This surreal landscape from 1928 by Yves Tanguy is one of my favourite paintings in the surrealist collection. Tanguy worked at the abstract end of the surrealist spectrum. We are looking at a landscape but the scene is full of unrecognisable objects painted with a range of techniques. Few paintings are as dark as this night."
Notion motion - Eliasson
"If you have ever fed ducks or fish at the water’s edge, you are familiar with the reflections on the water. Olafur Eliasson became fascinated with this effect and made an installation in the large Bodon Gallery with three pools in which the water was mechanically animated and lit by lamps as strong as searchlights. The reflection of the light via the water on the museum’s walls created an unforgettable experience. A patron of the museum purchased the entire installation in 2005 and gave it to the museum."
Notion Motion - Olafur Eliasson, 2005
Chair PUBLIC_One - Grcic
"Konstantin Grcic makes beautiful furniture and other designs for both private and public spaces. His designs are computer-driven, innovative, ergonomic and aimed at mass production. This means that they are available to a large public at a low price. This sturdy chair can now be seen in public spaces all over the world. The museum bought this example in 2006 for its industrial design collection."
