Michaël Borremans

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Upon very close inspection there are a few very light spots of burnishing along the lower right edge, with some minor associated fibre accretions. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultraviolet light.
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Michaël Borremans paints mysteriously enthralling images that blend a distinctive interest in the masters of the past with a contemporary feel of unease. As the skilful painting The Skirt demonstrates, his original exploration of the time-honoured visual language of figurative painting is pushed into new directions from within, and is used to create a captivating sense of indeterminacy. As the artist explains: “There are references to the history of art that are not specific. They appeal to your consciousness in a very open way. It’s something I think about. All the imagery of the 20th century and earlier is baggage we have to deal with. My work is an answer to that, a dialogue with that” (Michaël Borremans in conversation with David Coggins, 'Interview with Michaël Borremans', Art in America, 1 March 2009, online resource).

The subject of The Skirt has become one of the artist’s most fascinating themes. The striking composition of a torso without a lower body, placed on top of a table and turned away from the spectator, was executed in a series of paintings, as well as a video work from 2005 called Weight which featured the same model as in the present work. The stillness of the young girl in the painting creates an almost sculptural appearance, which is further implied by the two hands reaching out to her. This highly surreal arrangement is characteristic for Borremans’ suggestive paintings, which leave it to the spectator’s imagination to be deciphered: “I try to show figures - I don’t want to use the word “individuals”; they’re not individuals. I try to place them in a space that is familiar yet undefined” (Ibid.).

Although Borremans studied fine arts, he did not take up painting until he was 34 years old. And even though he has since defined himself as one of the most accomplished contemporary painters, it was not until 2005, the year of his first exhibition in London at Parasol unit, that his international recognition really excelled. Executed in the same year, The Skirt stands as a consummate testament to the artist’s confident mastery of oil paint, which he has developed into a practice that continues the sophisticated formal language of the old masters within a decidedly contemporary context.