Jan Van Eyck Within His Art

Download or read book Jan Van Eyck written by Craig Harbison and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 1995 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jan van Eyck's surviving work comprises a series of painstakingly detailed oil paintings of astonishing verisimilitude. In a fascinating recovery of the neglected human dimension that is clearly present in these works, Craig Harbison interrogates the personal histories of the worldly participants of such masterpieces as the Virgin and Child with George van der Paele, the Arnolfini Double Portrait and the Virgin and Child with Nicolas Rolin. With the aid of abundant visual evidence in color and in black and white, Harbison reveals how van Eyck presented his contemporaries with a more subtle and complex view of the value of appearances as a route to understanding the meaning of life. "I found this an enthralling study" The Sunday Telegraph "A fascinating investigation into the nature of the great pioneer's clients ... some fine photo details" Art Review"