A Tribute : a portrait of Martin Paul painted by Luc Dondeyne , 2021

It is an unwritten tradition that every chairperson of Maastricht University is portrayed by an artist on her or his farewell and also makes the choice of the artist. From 1978, five portraits were made and all five were painted in a very different style. The portraits are presented on two specially designed walls in the administrative building on Minderbroedersberg.

Martin Paul is the 6th chairman and, in collaboration with the Art- and Heritage committee (KEC), he has chosen the artist Luc Dondeyne, who portrayed him in a very special way on the canvas with the title "A Tribute".

Galerie Transit , the gallery that established the connection with Maastricht University and the painter, writes the following about the meeting between  the painter Luc Dondeyne and Martin Paul :

“Le portrait porte ce que la nature ne produit pas” [Yves Bonnefay] [1]

Luc Dondeyne does not paint a portrait of someone without getting to know the person better. During conversations with Prof. Martin Paul they discussed about the remarkable bridges of Maastricht, not only from a historical, geographical or architectural perspective, but above all as a metaphor for connection. It is no coincidence that the beautiful painting "Le Pont de l'Europe" by Gustave Caillebotte from 1876 is one of his favorite paintings. The painting shows a modernist bridge in steel construction with passers-by and flaneurs looking over the flow of the Seine and the streets of Paris.

Immediately Luc Dondeyne realized that how he could turn the dynamics in Martin Paul's gaze from the inside out.

The water of the Meuse, the Sint Servaasbrug and the silhouette of the modern city behind it form the ideal antidote to the subjective or the coincidental private of the individual portrait.

[1] Included as preface to “Le Portrait: sa naissance, sa renaissance” Ed. Hazan, Paris, 1991

About the painter Luc Dondeyne

Luc Dondeyne [°1963, Genk] shows himself not only as a sensitive observer of the reality surrounding him as a painter, but also – and this is at least as important – as a researcher into art history, and this from a personal perspective, looking for to his own painting pedigree.

In this quest, Dondeyne always tries to get through to his own subjectively experienced artistic history, and then to critically question this in his work. In that sense, Luc Dondeyne's artistic life over the last ten years has something of a focused 'kill your darlings', which he always provides with subtle humor.

Chairmen:     Sjeng Tans (1976-1978)                         Kunstenaars: Hans Truijen

                      Rob van den Biggelaar (1978-1987)                              Chrit Rousseau

                      Loek Vredevoogd (1987-1994)                                       Carla Rodenberg

                      Karl Dittrich (1994-2003)                                                 Annelies Hoek

                      Jo Ritzen (2003-2011)                                                     Sidi El Karchi

                      Martin Paul (2011-2021)                                                 Luc Dondeyne

Mieke Derickx