Hieronymus Bosch, Touched by the Devil

This movie is defenetly not what I expected it to be with only just seen the trailer and not read anything about it. I needed it to be a bit more analytical regarding the masterpieces. Hoewever, it is a one to watch. It is stunning that I saw new masterpieces ( something I did not expect) as well as widely known ones.

Pieter van Huijstee has written, directed and produced a modern masterpiece, a contemporary Boschian Hay Wain, where man queues, grasps and kills to clutch and hold the gold-like hay not knowing that it will wither as soon as he is in possession of it. God sees, all; we do not. In Pieter's film, people in the Art World do NOT come out well. Hieronymus Bosch very much DOES. Hugely so.

A fly on the wall approach collapses 6 years travel across the world into an hour and a half if one supplements it with the DVD additional scene of the visit to the Louvre. I found it absorbing and illuminating. The highlights are very much the scenes filmed in front of the (many specially unframed) Bosch panel paintings with the camera carefully panning over the details being discussed.

Many, who like me have travelled the world to see Bosch's work, will love the travelogue quality of the filmed exteriors of the museums and galleries. One is there again at the foot of the steps, if only for a few minutes, and now one is being allowed to go behind the closed doors, rooms and store rooms. Wonderful.

My twin brother and I visited the Noordbrabants Museum to see the Bosch exhibition this February (2016) as we did the Bosch Congress and Rotterdam exhibition in November 2001. At the Congress, as in Pieter's film, petty animosities and rivalries were sadly manifest, the archivists and the restorers being the good guys, the academics the bad guys. In the intervening 15 years the bad guys would seem to be the Museum Directors. It would appear to be a never ending conflict. Religion in Bosch's time. Professions and disciplines today.

A primary theme of the research exercise was to establish what constitutes an Hieronymus Bosch artwork and there is a gem of a scene where there are a worrying few moments as the Director of the hosting Museum says that he wants his visitors to know that they are seeing only a genuine Bosch, NOT with assistants, studio or follower. It is a VERY good scene, whether the subject of editing or staging. It lasts only a few minutes. Keep your eyes and ears open. Priceless. Bosch's sermons in paint are alive and well in 21st Century 's-Hertogenbosch !

A secondary and undeclared issue occurs when the principal organiser, Matthijs Ilsink, is asked by a Berlin Museum Curator as they examine a box of Bosch's drawings whether he thinks Bosch 'a Humanist' - a scholar, a speaker of Latin, a learned Humanist I will not spoil the viewer's experience by giving his answer, nor how the conversation continues, but highly recommend you see the film to find out. It is very much well worth it.

A must see.

I don't really agree with the other reviewer Henk Sonnemans. I think the point he mentions as flaws, were in the documentary on purpose. Because the question will remain whether something is a real Bosch or not... Made by the hands of others in his workplace or a combination. I do think though that it would have been more interesting to really see some more details about what the restorers do and how they do it. for example the point where you see the woman filling in gaps with paint, which looks quite scary considering the worth of such a painting. There is mainly some shots and one elaboration about the wood (which was great). The filming and editing are great in my opinion! Nice combination of music, sounds and shots and great use of natural light.

In this documentary there are many questions and no answers. I think about ten times the art-specialists ask to their colleagues: "What is a true Bosch-painting ?" There will be no answer to that question. "Which painting is of the master and which painting is of a follower ?" The answer is that only one painting is "very sure"from a follower. In the movie someone does a study of the wood the paintings are on. Many questions about the wood and never a clear answer. On the other hand you see how difficult it is to make a great exposition. You have a inside look in the museum-world. Summary: Many questions, a little bit about restoration of paintings. The making of a big exposition and getting paintings on time and in a good shape (restaurated)to the Netherlands. And the rest of your live you will look with other eyes to the so-called art-specialists.

Hieronymus Bosch: Touched By the Devil follows the development of an art exhibition celebrating the 500th anniversary of Bosch's birth at a museum in the artist's hometown. Although the film requires a keen attention span and leaves one wishing to learn more about the artist, it offers good insights about the art world.

The documentary is at its best when focusing on the intricacies of constructing an art exhibition. The curators are faced with numerous issues, not the least of which is determining which paintings are actually works by Bosch. They employ some surprisingly high tech methods in their quest for the truth. Some of the best moments in the film are when a curator tells someone whether the work they've volunteered for the exhibition is - or isn't - by Bosch.

However, the film also digs into the seamier side of the art world. We encounter collectors who purchase art works they don't appreciate simply for their value as an investment. Viewers also get a look at the wrangling that goes on when one museum tries to borrow an art work from another, with the curators at a certain Spanish museum displaying an unseemly glee over the fact that they have more works by the Dutch Bosch than Bosch's hometown.

The main challenge facing a documentary dealing with Hieronymus Bosch is that little is actually known about his life. Even with this restriction, it would have been nice if the curators had engaged in a bit of speculation about what forces molded his distinctive vision. Was he an early surrealist? Was he mentally ill? Even so, the film is worthwhile for those who are interested in art.