Rather pleased and honoured to have been able to contribute to the Rijksmuseum’s internationally celebrated blockbuster exhibition Vermeer in 2023 by translating several texts, including a detailed essay on the contents of Vermeer’s house and one on his small tronie paintings, both by co-curator Pieter Roelofs, head of the museum’s fine arts department, for the catalogue, which sold 100,000 copies. A bit like being (a very tiny) part of history…
Quand un livre vous séduit tant que, afin de pouvoir le partager avec un ami anglophone alors qu’il ne semble pas encore exister de version en anglais, vous décidez de le traduire vous-même…
When a book enchants you so much that, in order to be able to share it with an English-speaking friend when no version in English seems to exist yet, you decide to translate it yourself…
Bravo, Érik Orsenna, bravissimo.
https://www.lisez.com/livres/la-cinquieme-saison/9782221276112
Traduction à titre purement personnel, en gage d’amitié, ainsi qu’en preuve du plaisir que l’ouvrage a procuré et de l’admiration que son auteur a inspiré… Translation for purely personal use, as a token of friendship, as well as proof of the pleasure provided by the book and the admiration inspired by its author
An honour to translate three moving and fascinating texts by Julie-Marthe Cohen and Mara Lagerweij, as well as the foreword, for the important book Dispossessed, published by the Rijksmuseum and the Joods Cultureel Kwartier in Amsterdam, on Jewish cultural property looted by the Nazis in the Netherlands and its post-war restitution.
The vibrant, even cheeky paintings of the seventeenth-century Dutch painter Frans Hals always make me smile, so I quite enjoyed translating two essays, one on his life by Jaap van der Veen and another on his portrait prints by Justine Rinnooy Kan, for the catalogue of the exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in 2024.
《 Avant donc que d’écrire, apprenez à penser.
Ce que l’on conçoit bien s’énonce clairement,
Et les mots pour le dire arrivent aisément.
Hâtez-vous lentement, et sans perdre courage,
Vingt fois sur le métier remettez votre ouvrage,
Polissez-le sans cesse, et le repolissez,
Ajoutez quelquefois, et souvent effacez. 》
“Before you write, first learn to think.
That which is well-conceived is expressed clearly,
And the words to say it flow with ease.
Make haste slowly, and without losing heart,
Twenty times replace your work upon the frame.
Polish it ceaselessly, and polish it again.
Add sometimes, and delete often.”
— Nicolas Boileau, L’Art poétique, 1674
Another opportunity to translate an interesting series of texts for CIVA, the centre for information, documentation and exhibitions on the city, in Brussels, this time for its exhibition Power, on questions of energy and politics.
(Photo © CIVA) civa.brussels/en/exhibitions-events/power
An evocative essay on the work of the sculptor and land artist Richard Long by Frits Scholten, the Rijksmuseum’s Head of the Department of Sculpture, for the catalogue of the exhibition of four of Long’s grass works in the gardens (along with two stone installations inside) of the museum in 2023.
Always a linguistic pleasure to translate a typically erudite text by writer and curator Antoon Melissen, in this case the essay Artistic Premises, Creative Exchanges: Lothar Wolleh as Photographer of Günther Uecker’s Aktionen for the Günther Uecker Institut in Schwering, Germany. http://www.antoonmelissen.com
A sobering and eye-opening translation of texts addressing the politics of cultural representation and appropriation in the representation of Congo in international expositions from 1885 to 1958 for the exhibition Style Congo: Heritage & Heresy at CIVA in Brussels.
(Photo © CIVA) civa.brussels/en/exhibitions-events/style-congo
Quite a challenging and interesting commission, translating a philosophical correspondence between artist George Meertens and philosopher of culture Gerald Visser on Gelassenheit (‘releasement’), with references to Meister Eckhart and Martin Heidegger, to accompany a series of 24 paintings by Meertens exploring ‘this abyss of solitude’.
(photo © George Meertens) www.georgemeertens.com
PIERRE BOUVIER 