Vliegtuigje

Luc Tuymans' pictures are deceptively simple, yet reveal the painter's artistic and intellectual sleight of hand. In his 1988 painting Vliegtuigie, the apparently simple picture of a vintage plane is shown. The colours are understated, the plane is banal in its lack of detail. The subject matter implies that the photographic source that Tuymans has taken, hints at the past, at history. This is a deliberate decision for Tuymans, one that he has reinforced here through his re-use of an antique canvas as his support: "I wanted to make my paintings look old from the start, which is important because they are about memory." (Tuymans, quoted in R. Storr, 'A Worst Case Scenario', pp. 13-39, Luc Tuymans: Mwana Kotoko, Beautiful White Man, exh. cat., Venice Biennale, Ghent, 2001, p. 21).

Under the calm surface of the picture rages a storm of signification. The picture of the plane could come from a bad snapshot or a bland postcard, and therefore appears dumb and inscrutable. Yet a closer look reveals that Vliegtuigie shows the Spirit of St. Louis, the plane piloted by Charles Lindbergh in the first solo, non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. This achievement was celebrated in a vast array of parades and appearances and became a focus for American patriotism. Even today, the plane and its pilot retain a certain cult celebrity in the United States. But Tuymans' selection of subject-matter is deliberately prickly, for Lindbergh is still today a figure of controversy. The scapegoating and execution of an immigrant after the kidnapping and death of Lindbergh's infant son was followed by strong accusations of Nazi sympathies, not least after Lindbergh accepted a medal from Goering. These associations, lurking just behind the innocent depiction of Vliegtuigie's romantic aeroplane, demonstrate the extent to which "Violence is the only structure underlying my work." (Tuymans, quoted in ibid., p. 35).