which prompts the viewer to first consider his or her own moral position. Historical and contemporary examples Ophuis’ paintings can be related to the tradition of history painting in which he follows the Realistic mode. His works shows similarities with works by realistic history painters such as Édouard Manet. Like in Manet's painting The Execution of Emperor Maximilian (1867), the Ophuis’ paintings show a single moment in a most neutral way. Rather than the victim, the perpetrator is in the centre of the scene. Also, there are no clues of a pre-history, or of a closure. There is no dramatic lightning that suggests an unfolding of time. In short there are no metaphysical and moral dimensions which are so predominant in a biblical scene. His large works from the last few years demonstrate how he has primarily looked to the nineteenth century for references; to the likes of Goya, Géricault, Delacroix, Courbet and Manet (a tradition continued in the 20th century by Picasso, Golub and Richter, with Jeff Wall as the contemporary exponent). In present time Ophuis’ paintings can be compared to David Fincher’s film Fight Club (1999). Just like the paintings the film gives no answer whether it condemns or celebrates the violence it shows. The film and the paintings get therefore the same critique. The viewer expects a representation to be a sequence of events, or a source of information. In relation to the majority of mass media representations, Ophuis is as exceptional as Fincher. Ophuis is not performing a representational practice in which the viewer is directed in how to process or digest the representation, especially when it concerns issues of violence. Ophuis does not give a direction in his paintings and the viewer is compelled to make his own moral judgement. Usually, Ophuis first stages the scenes with actors and takes pictures of the enacted scenes. Ultimately, he transforms the photographs into pictures. Ophuis uses a technique of covering the canvas with paint and after a process of scraping away and building up paint, leaves underlying layers filtering through the upper surface. Ophuis usually presents the violence in a highly direct and confrontational manner. Museums and institutions Ronald Ophuis' work has been on show at: Centraal Museum, Utrecht Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig GEMAK, The Hague Zoya Museum, Slovakia Museum Jan Cunen, Oss Kunsthal, Rotterdam Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam Museum De Vleeshal, Haarlem Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam Stedelijk