MFAH Film New Releases: Hieronymus Bosch: Touched by the Devil

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents another in its New Releases series. Enjoy these critically acclaimed, award-winning international films as they make their Houston debut!

Hieronymus Bosch: Touched by the Devil

Director Pieter van Huystee
Released 2016
Language in English, Dutch, Spanish, Italian with English subtitles
Country The Netherlands
Running Time 89 minutes
Format DCP, Color

The late-medieval artist Hieronymus Bosch created fantastical and utterly unique paintings, the most famous of which is The Garden of Earthly Delights (in the collection of The Prado in Madrid).

This documentary closely follows preparations for Jheronimus Bosch: Visions of Genius, an exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of his death, organized by the Noordbrabants Museum in The Netherlands.

A team of art historians sets out to locate his surviving paintings (only 25 or so) and we observe their meticulous techniques in examining them to definitively attribute them to Bosch. Then there’s the ensuing drama over negotiations for the loan of paintings to the exhibition. A truly fascinating addition to the canon of films taking viewers behind the scenes of a museum exhibition.

“FASCINATING. Bosch’s images are surreal, crazy, violent, sinister, astounding. They can make your eyes pop open in disturbed wonder. (The film) brings us literally closer to Bosch’s images than one could probably get in almost any museum…  (it) offers a true immersion in his artistry.” – Variety

“An enthralling art detective story and a fascinating history lesson. There is not one boring moment in its 89 minute running time. There might not have been Dali or Geiger if it weren’t for Bosch.  It’s a real delight to see his work up-close and personal, blown up on the big screen. Engrossing.  A great watch.” – Screen Anarchy

“2016 marks the 500th anniversary of the death of Dutch master Hieronymus Bosch. Whether you know it or not, his wildly bizarre imaginings of hell are permanently etched upon your psyche. Bosch’s vivid imagination spawned precise, grotesque, salacious juxtapositions: “a bird-headed monster wearing a cooking pot as a helmet while devouring a man whose backside emits fire, smoke and a flock of blackbirds.” – The New York Times

“Tantalizing, repulsive, hilarious, and sexually perverse: his hell is our hell, even after 500 years.”    [courtesy of Karen Cooper, Director, Film Forum]

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