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Biographical Information:
As the father of Flemish painting, Jan van Eyck stands out as one of the truly original artists of all time. He worked in The Hague, Holland, from 1422 to 1424, subsequently in Lille, northern France, from 1425-1429, and thereafter in Bruges, where he died in 1441. He was both a townsman and a court painter, highly esteemed by Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. During the last 16 years of his life he was the official court painter to Philip as well as for the wealthy bourgeoisie of Bruges and the neighboring area. In the North, Jan van Eyck has been credited with the invention of oil painting.
To advance beyond the Gothic, Realism required a revolution, which began silmutaneously and independently in Florence and in the Netherlands, about 1420. Their common aim was to conquest the visible world. The Southern, or Florentine, revolution was the more systematic and, in the long run, the more fundamental, since it included architecture and sculpture as well as painting. It was called "Early Renaissance". The style which emerged in the North, in Flanders, was labeled "Late Gothic". The great Flemish masters had an impact that went far beyond their own region. In Italy they were as admired as the leading Italian artists of the period, and their intense realism had a significant influence on Early Renaissance painting. The Flemish artists are credited with the invention of the oil painting and from a technical point of view they can be called the "founders of modern painting". Oil, a viscous, slow-drying medium, could produce large variety of effects, from thin, translucent glazes to the thickest layers; the tones could also yield a continuous scale of hues, including the rich, velvety dark shades previously unknown. Without oil, the Flemish masters' conquest of visible reality would have been much more limited.
In the "Cruxification and the Last Judgment" (1420-25) the foreground figures to the far-off city of Jerusalem and the snow-capped mountains beyond, show a gradual decrease in the intensity of local colors and in the contrast of light and dark. Everything tends toward a uniform tint of light bluish gray, so that the farthest mountain range merges imperceptibly with the color of the sky. This optical phenomenon, knows as "atmospheric perspective" was first utilized fully and systematically by Jan Van Eyck and his brother Hubert.
The Flemish cities where the new style of painting flourished - Ghent, Bruges, Tournai - rivaled those of Italy as centers of international banking and trade. Their foreign residents included many Italian businessmen. For one of these Jan van Eyck painted his remarkable "Wedding Portrait, The Arnolfini Marriage"(1434), one of the major masterpieces of the period. The artist can be seen in the mirror in the back and his role becomes that of a witness. But the domestic setting, however persuasively realistic, features many elements of disguised symbolism, conveying the sacramental nature of marriage. The single candle in the chandelier stands for Christ, the shoes which the couple has taken off remind us that they are standing on "holy ground". In this painting the natural world is made to contain the world of the spirit in such a way that the two actually become one. The imagination and daring of placing two full standing figures within the limited space of an enclosed chamber was not to be repeated again in northern art for a century. The rich colors and textures of clothes and other materials, the atmospheric effects of side and back lighting streaming through the window, and the wealth of iconographic detail make this one of the outstanding paintings of the 15th century.
Van Eyck's work shows an interest in the beauties and wonders of the natural world. His rich materialism reflects not only the material-loving rich bourgeoisie of Bruges, but also Jan's deep spirituality in glorifying the material world, which to him was an expression of the greatness of God.
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Artists Works:
Van Eyck, Jan
Van Eyck, Jan
Van Eyck, Jan
Van Eyck, Jan
Van Eyck, Jan
Van Eyck, Jan
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