MuseoMag: MuseoMag 2025_02

MuseoMag 2025_02

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Title:: MuseoMag

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Title:: MuseoMag 2025_02

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Title:: From London to Luxembourg: The museum welcomes Dan Gaasch's Selina (2022) to its collection

12 MuseoMag N°II 2025 Lis Hausemer and the artist met at the museum a few weeks ago when he came to drop off the painting. FROM LONDON TO LUXEMBOURG The museum welcomes Dan Gaasch’s Selina (2022) to its collection With the careful eye of a restorer and the vision of a painter, Dan Gaasch’s 2022 portrait Selina offers a fresh, contemporary take on the classic portrait. Selected for the renowned Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London (NPG) in 2024, the painting captures the artist’s partner, Selina, in a moment of stillness and reflection. With its delicate mix of form, colour and texture, the piece draws you in, inviting you to pause and consider both the subject and the artist’s careful formal execution and composition. Almost a year after its recognition at the NPG, Selina has now found its permanent place in the MNAHA’s collection, marking an important journey from London to its new home. I had the chance to catch up with the artist a few weeks ago at the museum when he brought the painting in, and we got to chat about his work and creative process. SELINA’S JOURNEY The Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award is de- dicated to contemporary portrait painting and is open to artists worldwide. In its 42nd edition in 2024, it showcased 50 selected works from 1.647 sub- missions across 62 countries. The jury, chaired by Nicholas Cullinan, former director of the NPG and now director of the British Museum, included promi- nent figures such as the gallery’s contemporary art curator. Tanya Bentley and British artist Barbara Walker. As Cullinan notes in the exhibition’s leaflet: “The anonymity applied to this process encouraged the judges to consider what resonated for them most, including the artist’s technical ability, their use of symbolism and narrative, and their application of colour, texture and shadows.” It was through this careful selection process that Dan Gaasch’s portrait made it through to the final cut. Interestingly, Selina was not only included in the NPG’s exhibition, but also chosen as one of the key images for its promotion, appearing on flyers, postcards and posters. As Gaasch tells me, there’s a real sense of joy in seeing Selina’s journey now come full circle. Just a year ago, he got the news that his work had been selected for the group show at the NPG, and now, one year later, it’s here in the museum, officially part of the MNAHA’s permanent collection, securing its place in the history of art from Luxembourg. © éric chenal

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