Essay. Is God niet meer dood?

Religion and art were closely linked for centuries. But in the 20th century, religion disappeared from Western art discourse. The majority of the art world endorsed Nietzsche’s declaration of God’s death. Even the minority that wanted to put religion on the agenda in art struggled with the doubt that Nietzsche sowed. In 2025, the shock of Nietzsche’s cultural pessimism seems to have worn off. Religion, devotion, spirituality, mysticism: art’s interest in these subjects is back – in very different ways: diverse, sometimes very personal or autobiographical. Nietzsche seems to have been proven right after all. There is no longer anything supernatural that connects us all. But who still loses sleep over that, who still mourns that? In any case, it no longer stops artists from embracing religion with new vigour.