Jan van Eyck (1390-1441)
PROFILES IN ART DAY
Flemish artist Jan van Eyck did not invent oil painting, as he has often been credited, but he was one of the medium’s earliest and most accomplished users. His command of the technique and his ability to render subjects, textures, patinas, and sheens with staggering realism led not only to his reputation as a great artist, but also to distinguished appointments, privileges, success, and wealth.
Archival documentation suggests that van Eyck’s year of birth was about 1390 and that he was from Maaseik in Limburg, Belgium. Van Eyck had at least two brothers, Lambert and Hubert, who was also an artist. From 1422 to 1424, van Eyck was court painter to Holland’s John of Bavaria. And from 1425 until his death, he served as royal painter and diplomat to Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy, with whom he shared a pleasant friendship. The relationship was so amicable that van Eyck made Philip godfather to one of his children.
In 1432, van Eyck began signing and dating his work, which is how historians have identified his involvement in the exquisite Ghent Altarpiece: a multi-paneled polyptych originally commissioned to Hubert in 1425. When Hubert died in 1427, van Eyck completed the altarpiece and may have even repainted some or all of his brother’s contributions; however, it is difficult, if not impossible, to know which artist painted which panel or any of the Eyckian-style paintings rendered prior to 1432. —RJR
Notable works: Ghent Altarpiece, 1432; “Man in a Red Turban, 1433; The Arnolfini Marriage, 1434 (page 292).
FUN FACT
In 1428, Philip the Good sent van Eyck to Lisbon to paint the portrait of his betrothed, Isabella of Portugal, so that the Duke would have a means of evaluating his future wife.