Author Description

From 20 October 2013 to 23 February 2014, the Museum voor Moderne Kunst Arnhem (MMKA) exhibits "The Melancholy Metropolis: Cityscapes between Magic and Realism, 1925-1950". Magic realist painting, an important component of the MMKA's collection, is displayed alongside photography and film of the same era that visualizes the metropolis as a place of stillness, loneliness, and melancholy. Cityscapes by Dutch magic realists such as Carel Willink, Joop Moesman and Pyke Koch are accompanied by urban landscapes by painters who show an affinity with them, such as Mario Sironi and surrealists like Paul Delvaux. The exhibition also features works by artists of the German neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) movement, including Max Radler, Oskar Nerlinger and Karl Völker. In addition, the exhibition also includes contemporaneous cityscapes created in the context of French and Belgian photography and cinema. The exhibition thus situates magic realism in a European context. Exhibition: Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnhem, The Netherlands (20.10.2013-23.02.2014).