M welcomes rare work by Michaelina Wautier

Study of a Head of a Bearded Man is a recent discovery within the oeuvre of the 17th-century Brussels artist Michaelina Wautier (1614-1689). M was able to acquire the work thanks to expert Katlijne Van der Stighelen.

Michaelina Wautier is simply very, very good

Katlijne Van der Stighelen

Katlijne Van der Stighelen (KU Leuven): ‘Thirty years ago, I discovered Michaelina’s monumental Triumph of Bacchus in the storeroom of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum. I have always been interested in female artists, especially from the 17th century. Often their lack of training means that they are constantly searching and groping their way forward. They are usually the daughters, sisters or spouses of male artists. The same is true of Michaelina. She had a brother, Charles, who was five years older. They lived together for a large part of their lives, in the same house in the centre of Brussels. Undoubtedly, they shared a studio. And thus Michaelina received the perfect training.’

‘Since making this discovery in Vienna, I have tried to study her work and – above all – to get it exhibited. I knew that this would be the only way to put her on the map. But a museum’s primary aim is to reach a large number of people, and that’s already hard enough with a famous artist. I saw that the programme for Antwerp’s Baroque Year 2018 lacked diversity, so I put together a dossier and they were instantly persuaded: we have to exhibit this. That was the start of her rebirth. If you put all her work together, you cannot fail to notice its quality.’

Versatile

‘She is simply very, very good – and I’m not just saying that because I’m engaged with her work. The paintings speak for themselves. What’s more, Michaelina is incredibly versatile. Most female artists from the past are skilled at a single genre, for example portraits or floral arrangements. But Wautier also paints religious and mythological pieces and everyday scenes. She must have been very well trained, both intellectually and artistically. We know very little about her and that is frustrating. What I would love to find is a letter written by her, something in which you hear her voice, something of which you can say: this is her.’

‘At the moment, art by women is very much in the ascendant. All museums have to broaden their perspectives, M included. People know how good Michaelina is, so she is a figure you will come into contact with fairly quickly. At the same time, her oeuvre is relatively small: some thirty paintings in all. As soon as something comes onto the market, everybody is prepared to bid against one another. Michaelina’s Young Man with Pipe was sold at Sotheby’s in 1993 for 15,000 euros, and in 2019 for 400,000 dollars. It is very important to me that her works end up in museums. M is the ideal location. Her brother Charles’ Delivery of the Keys to Saint Peter hung at the high altar of Leuven’s St. Peter’s Church for centuries, but this was sadly destroyed during the First World War. This new acquisition symbolically draws brother and sister closer to one another again.’

‘A study like the one acquired by M was a kind of exercise, rather than a commission. Consequently, artists could really let themselves go. And Michaelina is no exception: you see targeted, broad brushstrokes, whilst women painters generally worked in more minute detail. Michaelina Wautier was a self-confident artist who knew what she was doing.’