Among Saints & Skeletons

he Dallas Museum of Art’s “Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks” boasts over one hundred thirty Flemish artworks, some indeed masterly, albeit displayed against jewel-toned walls that never quite let the objects speak for themselves. Organized in conjunction with the Denver Art Museum and Antwerp’s Phoebus Foundation, the traveling exhibition debuts the Phoebus Foundation’s collection in the States. And with conspicuous graphics, the show appears to have a proselytizing mission: to get American audiences excited about Flemish art and culture. But because its strategy often amounts to little more than attaching frills, “Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools” risks suggesting that the artworks aren’t interesting without backup.