La Correspondance

When I rushed into the Luc Tuymans exhibition in the MCA, my first impression was a bit of confusion and awe. Although we viewed some of his work in class and discussion, I am not super familiar with his work. With 15 minutes to view his exhibition (it was closing soon), it was interesting to feel like I was viewing all of his work through cloudy color filters. I realize that this is a characteristic of a Luc Tuymans painting. After viewing all of his work, I went for a second cycle through the exhibition a bit slower to closely examine his paintings.

After slowly viewing his work, I am not a huge fan of his work. I enjoy his work, but not to the extent I thought I would be. I wasn't exactly floored by his paintings, though I can appreciate them. However, I was struck by one in particular: La Correspondance (1985). Out of all of his paintings, I felt like this painting in particular demanded my attention. The background appeared to me to be a wallpaper pattern. The color scheme matched that of the rest of the exhibition, but what caught my eye was the room "behind" the wallpaper pattern, especially the red X on one of the tables. All tables are deserted and the one table with the X looks marked, as if something was to happen with that table and whoever sat there.

When I got home, I googled the piece and read an interview with Luc Tuymans. He claims it to be one of his most conceptual pieces. The anecdotal story linked to it is this: a Dutch writer in the early 20th century was stationed in Berlin. Because he didn't have enough money to bring his wife to Berlin, everytime he went to a cafe, he would send her a postcard with a sketch and a red X to mark where he ate--whcih is why it is called correspondence. He proceeded to do this for the five years he was stationed in Berlin. Tuymans wanted to get across the idea of homesickness. (Glisdorf, Daily Serving,"Luc Tuymans: In His Own Words", 2010)