Paintings by Nico Vrielink
at Ganesha Gallery, Four Seasons Resort, Jimbaran Bay.
Tel: 701010
The role of the nine Greek muses, Thalia, Melpomene, Euterpe, Erato, Terpsichore, Calliope, Urania, Polyhymnia and Clio, was to dispense inspiration to needy artists. These ancient deities were figures meant to embody the mysteries of artistic creation, in fields such as Literature, Music, Theatre, Dance, Astronomy, Painting and Sculpture. However, over the history of Western Art, the relationship between the artist and his muse has come to be seen as an emotional and physical passion involving an artist and his object of inspiration. As Germaine Greer has stated, the muse, in her purest aspect, is the feminine part of the male artist, with which he must have intercourse if he is to bring into being a new work. She is the anima to his animus, the yin to his yang. She inspires him. The muse is someone caught up in a relationship with an artist. A relationship often seen as a tug of wills, a race for supremacy, in which the artist always wins. Down the ages, the role of artist has almost always been taken by a man. The role of muse by a woman. In this relationship we see the delineation of the creative, active male and the passive female, at once worshiped and degraded as a decorative object. The muse is the female instrument that raises the emotional and erotic temperature high enough so that it may speed up, and facilitate, the male artist’s inspiration and labor.
Within every period of Western Art the muse has been endowed with the qualities and virtues that each epoch, and its artists, needed and admired. The muse becomes an idealized, dreamy view of a woman which signifies the social standards of the times. History is full of legends about artists and their muses. Dante had Beatrice. Gustav Klimt’s life-long companion Emilie Flöge provided the beauty that is to be found in Klimt’s paintings. Elizabeth Siddal posed for many of the Pre-Raphaelites, including Gabriel Rossetti, with whom she had a long relationship and short marriage. Dora Maar was Picasso’s muse, his model, his companion, and his intellectual sparring partner. Finally, the ‘super’ muse of the 20th century would have to be Elena Ivanovna Diakonova, otherwise known as Gala. Salvador Dali’s dependence on her was so absolute that with her death, in 1982, his creativity was extinguished. Artists as different as Rubens, Modigliani, Bonnard and Renoir have all painted their wives, as muses, over and over again, seeing within their beauty something which approaches the sublime.
Dutch by birth, Nico Vrielink began his art studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, with the intention of becoming an art teacher. A combination of foolhardiness and courage led him to live a life based on art and love alone. Restless by nature, Vrielink lived in many places over the years, before settling in Bali in 1998. Since he first met his wife, Jeane Seah, in Singapore in 1985, Vrielink has painted more than 4000 images of her. It seems that he has never become tired of painting her. This might seem a bit excessive, and somewhat obsessive. In his exhibition, ‘Faces’, at the Ganesha Gallery, Vrielink presents a sizeable collection of these works. Taken together these portraits capture her every mood. Painted quickly with broad, sure brushstrokes, they provide a stunning subtlety that can only be achieved by a painter of great experience. Apart from the sheer abundance and quality of the works, the question must be asked: Does Jeane Seah really ‘rate’ as a muse?
Of course, the answer to that question is a resounding ‘Yes’! As the canvas ‘Painting 25’ amply shows, Jeane is an outstanding beauty. This youthful image depicts her amazing Asian exoticness. In an alternative life she could have been a movie actress or super model, yet she displays a dignity that evokes a completely different inspiring character. In ‘Painting 13’ Vrielink makes a more obvious attempt to associate Jeane with the muses, placing her at peace in nature, accompanied by peacocks and tropical palms. Jeane portrays an alluring deity, perhaps aroused by a wandering troubadour. The canvases ‘Painting 15 and 19’ find Jeane as the muse of Literature. Framed by what appears to be excerpts from Chinese or Japanese scrolls, Jeane languishes in an atmosphere of heightened sexuality. Perhaps she is patiently awaiting the arrival of an ardent poet, to lavish her with praise and prose. However, it is the simple works ‘Painting 11 and 18’ which truly elevate Jeane to the status of muse. Depicted at her ‘toilette’, these near voyeuristic images display a remarkable sensitivity, which completely capture Jeane’s fascinating mystique, and fully explain Vrielink’s obsession and inspiration.
Naturally, these days the concept of a muse in contemporary art has become increasingly outdated. Maybe our culture has reached the point where anything, be it politics, mass-media, ambition, poverty or an abusive childhood, can provide more motivation for making art than the promptings and longings of romance. However, whether you regard Jeane and Nico Vrielink’s exhibition as a homage to the muse, or a testimony to enduring love, the show is simply sensational.
