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Jan van Eyck

 
Art Encyclopedia: Jan van Eyck
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(b ?Maaseick, c. 1395; d Bruges, 22/23 June 1441). Painter and illuminator, brother of (1) Hubert van Eyck.

According to a 16th-century Ghent tradition, represented by van Vaernewijck and Lucas d'Heere, Jan trained with his brother Hubert. Pietro Summonte's assertion (1524) that he began work as an illuminator is supported by the fine technique and small scale of most of Jan's works, by manuscript precedents for certain of his motifs, and by his payment in 1439 for initials in a book (untraced) for Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. Jan is first documented in The Hague in August 1422 as an established artist with an assistant and the title of 'Master', working for John III, Count of Holland (John of Bavaria; reg 1419-25), who evidently discovered the artist while he was bishop (1389-1417) of the principality of Li?ge. Jan became the court's official painter and was paid, with a second assistant when the work increased in 1423, continuously, probably until the count's death in January 1425.

Part of the Eyck, van family

See the Abbreviations for further details.


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Jan van Eyck
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(born before 1395, Maaseik, Bishopric of Liège, Holy Roman Empire — died , before July 9, 1441, Bruges) Flemish painter. He is recorded in 1422 as a master painter working for John of Bavaria, count of Holland, and later was employed by Philip III the Good, duke of Burgundy. Securely attributed paintings survive only from the last decade of his career; 10 are signed and dated, an unusually large number for the period. He produced portraits and religious subjects that are unmatched for their technical brilliance, their intellectual complexity, and the richness of their symbolism; he perfected the newly developed technique of oil painting. His masterpiece is the Adoration of the Lamb (1432), known as the Ghent Altarpiece, which he painted with his brother Hubert (c. 1370 – 1426). He is commonly regarded as the greatest northern European artist of the 15th century. His works were widely copied and avidly collected.

For more information on Jan van Eyck, visit Britannica.com.

Architecture and Landscaping: Aldo van Eyck
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(1918–99)

Dutch architect. He worked in the Public Works Department, Amsterdam (1946–50), set up his own practice in 1952, and entered into partnership (1971–82) with Theo Bosch (1940– ). In his work he insisted on structural and practical adaptability, and was a committed Modernist (he was a member of Team X). His Municipal Orphanage, Amsterdam (1957–60), embraced forms of various sizes flowing into each other within a quadrangular frame, creating a complex mnemonic of various urban spaces. Other works include the Arnhem Sculpture Pavilion, in which the circular plan was subdivided by straight and semicircular partitions (1966), the Pastoor van Arskerk, The Hague (1968–70), and a Conference Centre and Restaurant, Noordwijk (1984–9). His work has been classified within Structuralism, and he published many articles and polemics.

Bibliography

  • Blijstra (1962)
  • P.Buchanan (1989)
  • Wi.Curtis (1996)
  • Jencks (1973a)
  • Lefaivre & Tzonis (1999)
  • Strauven (1998)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)

Dictionary: Eyck   (īk) pronunciation, Jan van
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1390?-1441.

Flemish painter who with his brother Hubert (died 1426) founded the Flemish school of painting. Jan's works, characterized by brilliant coloring and minute realistic detail, include Arnolfini and His Wife (1434). No existing works can be positively attributed to Hubert.


Artist: Jacob van Eyck
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  • Period: Baroque (1600-1749)
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Born: ca. 1590 in The Netherlands
  • Died: March 26, 1657 in Utrecht, The Netherlands
  • Genres: Chamber Music

Biography

Jacob van Eyck was a blind Dutch carillonist, recorder player, and composer. Though he is known today largely for his collection of recorder solos, Der Fluyten Lust-hof, his contributions to the art of carillon-making and playing were substantial.

Van Eyck spent his early years at Heusden in southern Holland before being appointed carillonist in Utrecht in 1625, and had several pupils. He was the first to discover the link between the overtone structure and the shape of the bell. In partnership with the famous bellfounders, the Hemony brothers, he worked out the dimensions for the "pure" bell, which spread throughout Europe and became the standard carillon bells. His theory is still used by bellfounders today. Van Eyck's bells have a minor overtone series causing the characteristic melancholy sound of a well-tuned carillon.

In addition to his carillon duties, the cathedral paid Van Eyck an additional salary to wander the grounds of Utrecht cathedral and entertain the passers-by with songs on his recorder. He (presumably consequently) became a skilled improviser on a theme and three collections of his variations for descant recorder were published: Euterpe and the two parts of Der Fluyten Lust-hof (or "The Flute's Pleasure-Garden"). Der Fluyten Lust-hof contains 144 sets of variations on a variety of melodies popular in Renaissance Holland. One of the best known is the variation on Dowland's Pavane Lacrymae. Although Van Eyck wrote them for amateur musicians, the different sets commonly increase in technical difficulty towards the end. Some of them are very difficult indeed. This is one of the largest Renaissance collections of solo recorder music. It is particularly unusual as the instrument used is the less popular descant recorder rather than the more common alto. ~ David Cashman, All Music Guide
Actor: Peter Van Eyck
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  • Born: Jul 16, 1913 in Steinwehr, Germany
  • Died: Jul 15, 1969 in Zurich, Switzerland
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '50s-'60s
  • Major Genres: Drama, War
  • Career Highlights: The Wages of Fear, Der Rest ist Schweigen, Sailor of the King
  • First Major Screen Credit: Five Graves to Cairo (1943)

Biography

Trained as a musician, Peter Van Eyck fled his native Germany when Hitler assumed power in 1933. Van Eyck secured work in the U.S. as a musical arranger for some of the top names in the business. Through the kindness of fellow German expatriate Billy Wilder, Van Eyck was able to get work as a radio actor, and in 1942 was cast in his first film, The Moon Is Down. While his name and Teutonic bearing typecast Van Eyck as a Nazi in most of his wartime films, he was equally effective in sympathetic roles. Closing out his Hollywood career in 1951, Peter Van Eyck spent his last two decades as a popular leading man in European films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Wikipedia: Jan van Eyck
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Jan van Eyck

';Portrait of a Man in a Turban (actually a chaperon), possibly a self-portrait, painted 1433.
Birth name Jan van Eyck/Johannes van Eyck
Born c. 1395
Somewhere in Burgundian Netherlands
Died 9 July 1441
Bruges, Burgundian Netherlands
Nationality Flemish
Field Painting
Movement Renaissance
Works About 25 paintings have been attributed
Patrons John III, Duke of Bavaria, Philip the Good
Influenced by Hubert van Eyck

Jan van Eyck or Johannes de Eyck (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjɑn vɑn ˈɛjk]; before c. 1395 – before July 9, 1441) was a Flemish painter active in Bruges and considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century.

There is a common misconception, which dates back to the sixteenth-century Vite of the Tuscan artist and biographer Giorgio Vasari, that Jan van Eyck invented oil painting. Oil painting as a technique for painting wood statues and other objects is much older, and Theophilus (Roger of Helmarshausen?) clearly gives instructions for oil-based painting in his treatise, On Divers Arts, written in 1125. It is however true that the van Eyck brothers were among the earliest Early Netherlandish painters to use it for very detailed panel paintings, and that they achieved new and remarkable effects through the use of glazes, wet-on-wet and other techniques.[1] Thus, because of his early mastery of the technique, he was traditionally known as the "father of oil painting."

Jan van Eyck has often been linked as brother to painter and peer Hubert van Eyck, because both have been thought to originate from the same town, Maaseik in Limburg (Belgium). Another brother, Lambert van Eyck is mentioned in Burgundian court documents, and there is a conjecture that he too was a painter, and that he may have overseen the closing of Jan van Eyck's Bruges workshop.[2] Another significant, and rather younger, painter who worked in Southern France, Barthélemy van Eyck, is presumed to be a relation.

Contents

Life

Youth

The date of van Eyck's birth is not known. The first extant record of van Eyck is from the court of John of Bavaria at The Hague, where payments were made to Jan van Eyck between 1422 and 1424 as court painter, with the court rank of valet de chambre, and first one and then two assistants.[3] This suggests a date of birth of at the latest 1395 and indeed probably earlier. His apparent age in his probable self-portrait (right) suggests to most scholars an earlier date than 1395.[4] Miniatures in the Turin-Milan Hours, if indeed they are by van Eyck, are likely to be the only surviving works from this period, and most of these were destroyed by fire in 1904, though photographs exist.

Worldly success

Jan Van Eyck's La Madone au Chanoine Van der Paele (1434), a nice example of Oriental carpets in Renaissance painting.

Following the death of John of Bavaria, in 1425 van Eyck entered the service of the powerful and influential Valois prince, Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. Van Eyck resided in Lille for a year and then moved to Bruges, where he lived until his death in 1441. A number of documents published in the twentieth century record his activities in Philip's service. He was sent on several missions on behalf of the Duke, and worked on several projects which likely entailed more than painting. With the exception of two portraits of Isabella of Portugal, which van Eyck painted on Philip's behest as a member of a 1428-9 delegation to seek her hand, the precise nature of these works is obscure (see this copy [2] ).

As a painter and "valet de chambre" to the Duke, Jan van Eyck was exceptionally well paid. His annual salary was quite high when he was first engaged, but it doubled twice in the first few years, and was often supplemented by special bonuses. His salary alone makes Jan van Eyck an exceptional figure among early Netherlandish painters, since most of them depended on individual commissions for their livelihoods. An indication that Van Eyck's art and person were held in extraordinarily high regard is a document from 1435 in which the Duke scolded his treasurers for not paying the painter his salary, arguing that Van Eyck would leave and that he would nowhere be able to find his equal in his "art and science." The Duke also served as godfather to one of Van Eyck's children, supported his widow upon the painter's death, and years later helped one of his daughters with the funds required to enter a convent.

Some individual works

The Arnolfini Portrait (1434)

Jan van Eyck produced paintings for private clients in addition to his work at the court. Foremost among these is the Ghent Altarpiece painted for Jodocus Vijdts and his wife Elisabeth Borluut. Started sometime before 1426 and completed, at least partially, by 1432, this polyptych has been seen to represent "the final conquest of reality in the North", differing from the great works of the Early Renaissance in Italy by virtue of its willingness to forgo classical idealization in favor of the faithful observation of nature.[5] It is housed in its original location, the Cathedral of St. Bavo in Ghent, Belgium. It has had a turbulent history, surviving the 16th-century iconoclastic riots, the French Revolution, changing tastes which led to its dissemination, and most recently Nazi looting. When World War II ended it was recovered in a salt mine, and the story of its restoration drew considerable interest from the general public and greatly advanced the discipline of the scientific study of paintings[citation needed]. No less turbulent was the history of the interpretation of this work. Since an inscription states that Hubert van Eyck maior quo nemo repertus (greater than anyone) started the altarpiece, but that Jan van Eyck - calling himself arte secundus (second best in the art) - finished it identifies it as a collaborative effort of Jan van Eyck and his brother Hubert. The question of who painted what, or "Jan or Hubert?" has become a mythical one among art historians. Some even question the validity of the inscription, and thus Hubert van Eyck's involvement. In the 1930s, Emil Renders even argued that "Hubert van Eyck" was a complete fiction invented by Ghent humanists in the 16th century. More recently, Lotte Brand Philip (1971) has proposed that the Ghent Altarpiece's inscription has been misread, and that Hubert was (in Latin) the "fictor", not the "pictor", of the work. She interprets this as meaning that Jan van Eyck painted the entire altarpiece, while his brother Hubert created its sculptural framework.

Annunciation, National Gallery of Art.

Exceptionally for his time, van Eyck often signed and dated his paintings on their frames, then considered an integral part of the work (the two were often painted together). However, in the celebrated Arnolfini Portrait (London, National Gallery) reproduced at left, van Eyck inscribed on the (pictorial) back wall above the convex mirror "Johannes de Eyck fuit hic 1434" (Jan van Eyck was here, 1434). The painting is one of the most frequently analyzed by art historians, but in recent years a number of popular interpretations have been questioned. This is probably not a painted marriage certificate, or the record of a betrothal, as originally suggested by Erwin Panofsky. The woman is probably also not pregnant, as the hand-gesture of lifting the dress recurs in contemporary renditions of virgin saints (including Jan van Eyck's own Dresden Triptych and a workshop piece, the Frick Madonna).

Other works

Other works include two remarkable commemorative panels, the Madonna with Chancellor Rolin (Paris, Louvre), and the Madonna with kanunnik Joris van der Paele (Bruges, Groeninge Museum), some other religious paintings, notably the Annunciation (Washington, National Gallery of Art), and a number of exceptionally haunting portraits, including that of his wife, Margareta (Bruges, Groeningemuseum), and what is believed to be his self-portrait, Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?), often mistitled Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban, as in fact he wears a chaperon.[6]. Many more works are disputed, or believed to be by his assistants or followers.

Reputation

In the most substantial early source on him, a 1454 biography by the Genoese humanist Bartolomeo Facio (De viris illustribus), Jan van Eyck was named "the leading painter" of his day. Facio places him among the best artists of the early 15th century, along with Rogier van der Weyden, Gentile da Fabriano, and Pisanello. It is particularly interesting that Facio shows as much enthusiasm for Netherlandish painters as he does for Italian painters. This text also sheds light on aspects of Jan van Eyck's production now lost, citing a bathing scene as well as a world map which van Eyck painted for Philip the Good. Facio also recorded that van Eyck was a learned man, and that he was versed in the classics, particularly the writings of Pliny the Elder about painting. This is supported by records of an inscription from Ovid's Ars Amatoria, which was on the now-lost original frame of the Arnolfini Double Portrait, and by the many Latin inscriptions on his paintings, using the Roman alphabet, then reserved for educated men. Jan van Eyck likely had some knowledge of Latin for his many missions abroad on behalf of the Duke.

Jan van Eyck died in Bruges in 1441 and was buried there in the Church of St Donatian (destroyed during the French Revolution).

Main works

The Ghent Altarpiece: The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (interior view), painted 1432
Closed view, back panels

References

The Ghent Altarpiece: Knights of Christ
General
  • Ainsworth, Maryan M. and Keith Christiansen, eds. From Van Eyck to Bruegel Early Netherlandish Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998.
  • L.J. Bol, Jan Van Eyck reprint: Barnes & Noble Art Series
  • Campbell, Lorne. The Fifteenth-Century Netherlandish Paintings. National Gallery, London. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. (Good article on the Arnolfini Double Portrait)
  • Foister, Susan, Sue Jones and Delphine Cool, eds. Investigating Jan van Eyck. Turnhout: Brepols, 2000.
  • Jenny Graham, Inventing van Eyck: The remaking of an artist for the modern age. Oxford and New York: Berg, 2007
  • Friedländer, Max J. Early Netherlandish Painting. Translated by Heinz Norden. Leiden: Praeger,
  • Craig Harbison, Jan van Eyck: The Play of Realism. Sources of van Eyck's realist tradition in fifteenth century Netherlandish art.
  • Pächt, Otto. Van Eyck and the Founders of Early Netherlandish Painting. New York: Harvey Miller, 2000
  • Panofsky, Erwin. Early Netherlandish Painting. London: Harper Collins, 1971
Source documents
  • Baxandall, Michael. “Bartholomaeus Facius on Painting: A Fifteenth-Century Manuscipt of De Viris Illustribus.” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes
  • Laborde, Léon, marquis de. Les ducs de Bourgogne, études sur les lettres, les arts et l'industrie pendant le XVe siècle et plus particulièrement dans les Pays-Bas et le duché de Bourgogne. 3 vols. Paris: Plon frères,
  • Paviot, Jacques. “La Vie de Jan van Eyck selon les Documents écrits,” Revue des archéologues et historiens d'art de Louvain XXIII
  • Weale, James, W. H. Hubert and John van Eyck: Their Life and Work. London: John Lane, 1908
Ghent Altarpiece
  • Dhanens, Elisabeth. Van Eyck: The Ghent Altarpiece. New York: Viking Press, 1973
Technical Analysis
  • Asperen de Boer, J. R. J. van. “A Scientific Re-examination of the Ghent Altarpiece” Oud Holland
The Undocumented Early Years
  • Buren, Anne H. van, ed. Heures de Turin-Milan: Inv. no 47, Museo Civico d'Arte Antica, Torino. Lucerne: Faksimile Verlag, 1996.
  • Sterling, Charles. “Jan van Eyck avant 1432” Revue de l’art) 7-82
Relation to Contemporery European Art
  • Belozerskaya, Marina. Rethinking the Renaissance: Burgundian Arts Across Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002
  • Borchert, Till-Holger ed. Age of Van Eyck: The Mediterranean World and Early Netherlandish Painting,. Exh. cat. Groeningemuseum, Stedelijke Musea Brugge. Bruges: Luidon, 2002
  • Nuttall, Paula. From Flanders to Florence: The Impact of Netherlandish Painting. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004
  • Weiss, Roberto. “Jan van Eyck and the Italians” Italian Studies XI (1956) 1-15
General Information about the 15th-Century Burgundian Court
  • Huizinga, Johan. The Autumn of the Middle Ages. Translated by Rodney J. Payton and Ulrich Mammitzsch. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996 (called in other edns "The Waning of the Middle Ages")
  • Vaughan, Philip R. Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy. UK: Boydell & Brewer, 2002

Footnotes

  1. ^ Gombrich, E.H., The Story of Art, pp 236-9. Phaidon, 1995. ISBN 0 7148 3355 x
  2. ^ Jan van Eyck, Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. ^ Châtelet, Albert, Early Dutch Painting, Painting in the northern Netherlands in the fifteenth century, pp. 27-8, 1980, Montreux, Lausanne, ISBN 2882600097
  4. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia[1]
  5. ^ Gombrich, E.H., The Story of Art, pages 236-9. Phaidon, 1995.
  6. ^ National Gallery Catalogues: The Fifteenth Century Netherlandish Paintings by Lorne Cambell, 1998, ISBN 185709171

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