by Stephen H. Goddard, curator of Prints and Drawings, Spencer Museum of Art This study
began
after Robert Hoozee showed me the holdings of prints and drawings by Jules De Bruycker at
the
Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Ghent. I soon realized that these prints were by the same
artist that
Richard Field, of the Yale University Art Gallery, once suggested I might find
interesting. While De
Bruycker has been almost over exposed in Belgium, he is virtually unknown here in the
United States,
and I became determined to take on the task of an introductory exhibition. At first I
planned to find a
way to deal with De Bruycker in a group study, but as I became more familiar with the
material it
became clear that De Bruycker was in many ways a singular phenomenon and I resolved to
form a
monographic study. The Spencer Museum of Art and the Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Ghent
considered collaborating on a De Bruycker exhibition. But as the Ghent exhibition was
planned to
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the artistŐs death to an audience already
intimately familiar with
Ghent and its traditions, we resolved to assemble separate exhibitions from a similar
group of works,
but with substantially different catalogue texts. The choice of works for this exhibition
is fairly orthodox
in that it sets out to define the major contours of the artistŐs career as a printmaker
and draftsman, not
to pause and examine the precious or unusual aspects of his output, or the multiplicity of
states and
impressions of his more heavily worked plates.
The De Bruycker literature is surprisingly large, but it is not easily accessible.
Probably the best study to
date on De Bruycker is Georges Chabot's long article, written in French but published in
Flemish in the
Kultureel Jaarboek voor de Provincie Oostvlaanderen [Cultural Annual for the Province of
East
Flanders]. A study by Achilles Mussche provides a more personal and evocative view, and
the
catalogue by Paul Eeckhout for the artist's centenary exhibition at the Museum voor Schone
Kunsten in
Ghent includes important statements by those who knew De Bruycker. The standard catalogue
raisonné
by Grégoire Le Roy includes a useful study, but as a catalogue it is somewhat incomplete
and, of
course, totally lacking for works produced after its 1933 publication. By the time this
catalogue is in
print, several exhibitions commemorating the fiftieth anniversary (1995) of De Bruycker's
death will have
appeared; both the Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent and the Stedelijk Museum van Ieper are
producing exhibition catalogues.
Since the present study is primarily chronological, it follows the main contours
established by Chabot,
Eeckhout, and Le Roy. However, since this text is for a non-Belgian audience, we have
taken the
opportunity to address a number of topics along the way that might be taken for granted in
De
Bruycker's home territory.
A note on language: De Bruycker gave his prints various titles in both French and Flemish.
In the text
we refer to the title as it appears on the exhibited impression of the print, but if the
exhibited impression
is not inscribed with a title, the title is generally given as it appears in Le Roy's
catalogue raisonné.
Similarly, when reference is made to a print that is not exhibited, the title recorded by
Le Roy is used.
Flemish place names are given in Flemish (Ieper, rather than Ypres, for example) unless
there is a
conventional English spelling, such as Ghent, Brussels, or Antwerp. Place names in Ghent,
including
names of churches, are given in Flemish (Sint-Niklaas, instead of Saint Nicholas, for
example). In
instances where books have been simultaneously published in French and Flemish, only the
edition
consulted is given in the bibliography.
All translations are the author's unless otherwise noted; original texts are given in the
endnotes. While
several colleagues have made suggestions and corrections regarding these translations, any
errors are
my own.
LENDERS TO THE EXHIBITION
Bibliothčque Royale Albert 1er, Cabinet des Estampes, Brussels
J. De Bruycker Collection
The Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge
Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent
Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, Lawrence
De Bruycker may also be called an eye. But an eye in which the optic
nerve plunges into self-denying
discontent, into self-mocking bitterness.
[Ook De Bruycker mocht worden genoemd : een Oog. Maar een oog, waarvan de zenuwen-bundel
duikt in misnoegdheden die zich-zelf verloochenen, in verbittering die zich-zelf bespot.]
Karel van de
Woestijne, 1912