Diary Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen 2012 'From two sides'

In the museum works of art are displayed to show their best side. That is precisely as it should be. But that does not mean that we can’t be intrigued by the back of a painting, the underside of a decorated dish or the inside of a suitcase.

The 2012 Boijmans Diary brings together twenty-eight objects form the museum’s collection which, in addition to their usual side, also have an unexpected side. We are going to examine these works of art literally from two sides, leading to surprising discoveries. The reverse, underside or inside of art works can tell us about how they were made. Some bear the trace of the maker or a former owner of the work. Or they tell us about the journey the work has undergone before it came into the museum’s collection.

Some paintings have been painted also on the back. In the drawings shown here, both sides of the paper have been used so that they are actually two works of art in one. And the diary includes several items that have a surprise in store. For example, an eighteenth-century porcelain saucer has a saucy flipside and we come face-to-face with ourselves in a book by Man Ray.