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The Arts Intel Report

Luc Tuymans: The Past

Luc Tuymans, Bell Boy, 2023,

Until Feb 16, 2025
4 Jiuxianqiao Rd, Chaoyang, Beijing, China

The Belgian artist Luc Tuymans came to prominence in the 1990s, when figurative painting was loosening its grip in Europe. He held tight anyway. Tuymans, now 64, looks to photographs for images. When he’s drawn to one, he often re-photographs it before doing a painting, which he almost always finishes in a day. His views on good and evil hide behind the paintwork, and the snapshots Tuymans chooses often represent a muted truth about either the past or the present. For his first comprehensive exhibition in China, 80 works from across his career are on view. —Elena Clavarino