In the year of the Flemish master Jan van Eyck, the city of Bruges is filled with events dedicated to the forefather of oil painting in the Netherlands.
After Pieter Paul Rubens and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the Flemish Masters triennium ends in splendor. Flanders is ready to be the artistic stage of the first official painter of the Burgundian court.
The year of van Eyck in Bruges and Ghent
Polyptych of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb at the Groeninge
At the Groeninge Museum, will be staged a review that explores the artistic and life paths of the artist. On display, there will be the absolute masterpiece of the fifteenth-century painter, Polyptych of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. The painting is one of the most remarkable examples of van Eyck’s genius. Painted between 1426 and 1432, it has 12 panels, arranged on two registers. Furthermore, van Eyck’s masterpiece highlights the fundamental characteristics of his pictorial style. Analytical naturalism and the use of bright colors produce a lyrical and detailed landscape. A pictorial approach that made Jan van Eyck’s works recognizable at first glance.
That at the Groeninge Museum will be an exhibition that wants to explore van Eyck’s artistic journey in toto. Not only the most famous works but a real excursus of van Eyck’s creative processes and techniques.
Jan van Eyck’s exhibitions at MSK and other unmissable appointments
Since the 1st of February, An Optical Revolution will bring together more than half of his paintings to the MSK. An unmissable appointment for Flemish paintings lovers that will see large loans from European and American museums and collections.
From June, then, the Polyptych of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb will return to the Saint Bavo Cathedral, a jewel of the Flemish Gothic, to show itself in a new suggestive setting.
Floralies, the historic flower festival that lights up the spring of Ghent, will also be dedicated to the master. From 1 to 10 May there will be events, workshops, and installations inspired by his Garden of Paradise. At the Museum of Design, instead, the bright colors of Van Eyck’s palette are reinterpreted by contemporary designers. The exhibition, van Eyck’s Colors in Design will be on stage from the 13th of March to the 6th of September.
Van Eyck: the genius of the Flemish master
Van Eyck had the merit and fortune of working for Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy, whose court moved from city to city, enriching each of its offices with works of art and valuable architecture.
For this reason, the Year of Van Eyck takes shape as a great event spread between Ghent, Bruges, Mechelen, Leuven, and Brussels. Bruges, in particular, hosted the painter from 1432 until his death and today it preserves his remains.
Among the events not to be missed is that of the Museum Sculpta. Here it will be possible to admire ten famous scenes painted by the artist in a three-dimensional version. In addition, will be inaugurated tours to discover the places frequented by the master centuries ago. These will lead the audience between the Gouden Handstraat laboratory-house, the painters’ quarter and the Saint-Salvator Cathedral.