Zulma, muze en manager
Carlos Alleene, Melanie Deboutte
Roger Raveel Museum & Snoeck, 2024
€30,00
The Zulma exhibition. Muse and manager is an ultimate tribute to this exceptional woman who was not only his muse, but also his manager ‘avant la lettre’ for Belgian artist Roger Raveel (1921-2013). Her name will therefore remain forever linked to Raveel’s work. It is only appropriate to honor her in the anniversary year of the Roger Raveel Museum: without Zulma there would be no Raveel, without Zulma there would be no museum. The story goes that next to every important artist there is a strong woman. As Georgette was for René Magritte, Nel for Rik Wouters,
Gusta for Gust. De Smet and Marthe for Pierre Bonnard, Zulma was the woman next to Roger Raveel. Zulma De Nijs was everything to Raveel. Or as Hugo Claus wrote in that one line from his poem Before the Gate: “Being present is enough.” And she has been, both in the artist’s life and oeuvre. She is clearly recognizable from Raveel’s early work. It was she who served as the model for now classic paintings such as Woman with Red Arm (1949), Woman with Revolver (1950) or Woman with Decorative Mirror (1953). Even later, it was difficult to keep track of how often Raveel depicted her ‘en face’ in drawings, etchings and paintings. He hardly had to think about it anymore. From a loose perspective he managed to portray her accurately. Zulma at the table, playing cards, one
solving a crossword puzzle, looking at the studio at the window, and so on. Almost her entire life was filled with Raveel’s artistry. She always stood up for him, fought against the misrecognition of his work in the early years and did not hesitate to blast some critics. The years finally proved her right. In all respects, time remains the fairest critic. IN DUTCH!
ISBN: 9789461619075
