Documentaries about art have become a staple lately, and I wonder if it has something to do with digital photography. You can get such precise images of art, and zap in for such crystal-clear close-ups, that it makes a big difference in how we can see the work.
At first, “Hieronymus Bosch: Touched by the Devil” looks like it’s going to be one of those movies. There’s a little prologue about how Bosch painted owls into his canvases, each with a different style and meaning.
The detail is great: You can really see these owls, most of them painted very small on otherwise big, busy canvases. Who knew? Who can even get this close to these masterworks?
Soon we meet members of the Noordbrabants Museum staff from the Dutch city called Den Bosch, the birthplace of Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516). They are working on organizing a big exhibition that will bring the paintings of the city’s favorite son to their museum.
This opens up the delicate world of how museums relate to each other. There are only about 25 confirmed Hieronymus Bosch paintings in the world, and the pick of the litter are owned by the Prado in Madrid.
The Prado might loan out some of their lesser work, but they’d like something in return. A source in Venice could loan out its Bosch work, but the paintings should be restored; maybe the Dutch would like to pay for that?
Watching these delicate negotiations — the business of making and fielding awkward requests — is quite interesting. All these stuff seems much more casual than you’d imagine.
Around the edges, director Pieter Van Huystee grazes across other issues. We get a hint of how an artwork can be dated by counting tree rings in the wood beneath the painting. We see how infrared photography reveals early sketches below the surface of the paint.
Best of all, close examination brings Bosch’s paintings, teeming with religious imagery and bizarre demons and sinners, into sharp focus.
If the details are interesting, the documentary itself doesn’t entirely come together. After all the behind-the-scenes posturing we witness, there isn’t actually a payoff. I had to look up the Noordbrabant Museum online to confirm that they really did have the Bosch exhibition this year. A curiously incomplete way to end a promising movie.
“Hieronymus Bosch: Touched by the Devil” (2 stars)
A documentary that looks at how a Dutch museum coordinates a big Bosch exhibition (and interesting world of negotiation), and other aspects of appreciating art. Interesting details here, although the film grazes across many issues without really completing any of them. In Dutch and English, with English subtitles.
Rating: Not rated; probably PG
Showing: SIFF Uptown theater
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