Wanrooij Gallery presents new art project featuring historical masters

Wanrooij Gallery in Amsterdam will present a solo exhibition by Dutch photographer Julius Rooymans from March 10 to May 14, 2022. With The Shadow of the Master, the gallery is showing a new series of monumental photographic works and portraits. In the process, paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Jan Steen come to life.Text: Patrick Stoffer
Image: Wanrooij GalleryArtist slash photographer Julius Rooymans is a storyteller with a fascination for history and works of great magnitude. In 2019, he realized the project Night Watch360 - The Reverse Side of Art, a photographic reconstruction with doubles and a fictional reverse side of Rembrandt's iconic painting exhibited at the Rijksmuseum.

The new art project The Shadow of the Master brings together the works of world-famous Dutch masters and highlights the darker sides of being an artist, including love, self-mockery, poverty, grief and misfortune. As with the Night Watch360 , 180 lookalikes similar to their 350-year-old predecessors were sought for this project.

Thanks to the cooperation of renowned institutions such as the Allard Pierson, Museum Het Rembrandthuis, Museum Vrolik and well-known collectors and antique dealers, the photographic works feature numerous original objects, tableware, weapons and sets. With the expertise and dedication of such professionals as make-up artist Arjen van der Grijn, costume designer Catherine Cuykens and art historian Marieke de Winkel, the costumes, jewelry and hairpieces have been made historically accurate down to the smallest details.

Julius Rooymans grew up in an artistic family and studied photography at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. He has been photographing for nearly 25 years and has created covers for Newsweek and The New York Times. The artist's autonomous work has been presented at art fairs such as Art Miami and KunstRAI and included in the collections of private collectors and companies. Rooymans lives and works in Amsterdam.

In addition to the exhibition at Wanrooij Gallery, on KNSM-laan in Amsterdam, "The Shadow of the Master" is on permanent display at the AFAS Theater in Leusden. More information about the collection and tickets can be found here.