The Pistil's Waltz

Exhibition: 3 April–13 May 2026 • Brussels

S ince 3 April, Sotheby’s Brussels has been hosting the spring exhibition The Pistil’s Waltz, organized by Gallery FIFTY ONE. The exhibition, whose first edition was held in 2015 to celebrate the gallery’s fifteenth anniversary, brings together artists working across different media (photography, painting, sculpture, ceramics) around a theme that is both simple and inexhaustible: the flower.

A universal subject in the history of art and associated with numerous symbols, the flower appears in ancient painting, medieval illuminations, Flemish still lifes, the decorative arts, modern photography, as well as the most conceptual contemporary practices, and has been continually reinvented. At times an ornamental motif, at times an object of scientific study, at times a symbol charged with desire, spirituality, or vanity, it belongs to all cultures, all eras, and all visual languages. A natural source of fascination, the flower draws artists into a quest for representation, where the challenge lies in capturing its fleeting beauty. The diversity of the works on view reflects the multitude of possible interpretations and representations centered on the flower. In photography, the French artist Jacques Henri Lartigue, the Belgian artists Jacques Sonck and Katrien De Blauwer, as well as the Malian artist Seydou Keïta, each offer unique and deeply personal interpretations.

Among other media, Gallery FIFTY ONE will present the painted bronze 755 by the American artist Tony Matelli, known for his sculptural work and hyperrealism, along with three gouache paintings by Belgian artist Philip Aguirre y Otegui, which also depict flowers in a style reminiscent of Iberian ceramics.

Today, the flower is no longer limited to a simple aesthetic motif but embodies a reminder of our relationship to living beings, as well as to the beauty and fragility of the ecosystem. This exhibition, curated by Gallery FIFTY ONE, offers a way to continue the conversations and reflections initiated about ten years ago.