In the series The Muse Withdraws, Inez de Brauw engages with the 17th-century genre of Gallery paintings—lavishly detailed interiors filled with art, objects, and symbolism, originating in the Low Countries, now Belgium. Within these paintings-within-paintings – a form of mise en abyme – she searches for the women: the muses. Their presence, gaze, and role are re-examined, along with the subtle codes that surround them, from precious objects with provenances in exploitation.
The works are formally inspired by historical revisionism: erasure, blurring and repainting are seen as acts of reviewing history. Figures step forward or slip from view; roles are exchanged. The privilege of appearing within the frame, and the power to decide who may appear, is questioned. Who holds the brush and who has the right to appear within the frame, is questioned. In each work, a new figure takes control, reinterpreting inherited visual traditions. The balance between maker and muse shifts, between the personal and the political, as familiar scenes are quietly rewritten. What remains is a play of gazes and meanings, where beauty and power take turns – and the muse slowly withdraws, ready to assume a new role.
For Art Brussels 2026, De Brauw presents a contemporary Kunstkamer—a modern-day cabinet of curiosities. Through a series of works inspired by historic collections and artist’s studios, she stages a shifting narrative of power. Each painting challenges traditional hierarchies of maker and muse, offering a quiet but persistent rewriting of visual history. Here, beauty and authority are renegotiated, and the muse, long confined to passive inspiration, withdraws, only to return in an active, newly redefined role.