Jan Van Eyck: Painting Review

In the article “Sexuality and Social Standing In Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Double Portrait” the author analyzes the religious and social grammars of marriage. This short paper will be a reflection of Harbison’s article that discusses religious and marital norms throughout, with also analyzing various sections of van Eyck’s piece, for example: implying the piece as a marriage document or contract of the marriage, which immediately makes the viewer look deeper into the double portrait. All of this helped me realize that pieces of art are not simply “pictures,” rather they are narratives like a scene in a documentary. The author starts the article with a clear thesis of analyzing the social religious and marital norms when this piece was made.

The work of art I chose to write about was The Watermill with the Great Red Roof by Meindert Hobbema. This painting was made in 1662-1665. I found this piece in Gallery 231, The Anne Fuller gallery or the European Painting and Sculpture gallery. It is an oil painting on canvas, and the size of the painting is 32 x 43¼ inches.

Born 1390, Jan Van Eyck was a flemish painter who was one of the first to perfect the newly developed technique of oil painting. In 1425 Van Eyck entered the service of the influential Valois prince, Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy. Van Eyck also did paintings for other private clients as well as the court.

Jan van Eyck painted the famous Arnolfini Portrait in 1432 during the Netherlandish Renaissance. The painting is filled with fascinating detail and complex symbolism. It was painted during the time when Burgundy was flourishing economically and it was the center of trade and banking. Jan van Eyck used oil-based paint as medium for his artwork. As the oil paint dried slowly and allowed the painter to add more detail thus it allowed Jan van Eyck to add detail to the picture. However, this painting of a man and woman standing in front of a bed represent Lucca Financier (who had established himself in Burges as an agent of the Medici family)(GA, 227) and Giovanna Cenami, as his wife. The Arnolfini Portrait provides a clear pictorial record of rank

Jan van Eyck painted unique pieces of artwork, which had several different meanings, Jan van Eyck was a Renaissance artist, who painted many great pieces, such as the Arnolfini Portrait, (1434) Virgin and Child with Saints and Donor, (1441) and Madonna in the Church (1438). This artist was painted several humanist, and religious themed paintings.

The works of Jan Van Eyck and Jan Vermeer have been long celebrated as pinnacles of Northern Renaissance and Baroque art respectively. Historians continue to ponder the iconographic messages within the enigmatic oeuvres of these artists, particularly emphasizing religious symbolism and hidden meanings. Van Eyck and Vermeer were both products of the rich painting traditions of the Netherlands in the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. As a result, their works share both similar and distinct societal, economic, and religious influences. Although these factors interconnect and impact each other, religion was Van Eyck's primary focus, while Vermeer emphasized societal concerns.

Little is known of Jan van Eyck's early life and neither the date nor place of his birth is documented. The first existing record of Jan’s life come from the court of John Bavaria at The Hague; payments were made to Meyster Jan den malre, who was a court painter with the rank of valet de chamre. It is also recorded that Jan had three siblings, a Sister and a two brothers, who were also painters. It is not known where Jan was educated, but has been experienced in Latin, Greek, and Hebrews indicating that he was schooled in the classics arts. This level of education is rare among the painters, and surely made him more striking to his masters he served. Then in 1431 Jan purchased a house in Bruges and, about the same time, he married a woman

In the artwork Double Portrait by Jan Van Eyck, iconography is used to infer many possible meanings that the artist could have tried to portray. In this painting, there is a couple that is thought to be Giovanni di Arrigo Arnolfini, a rich merchant, and his wife Giovanna Cenami. Both of whom descend from wealthy families. The first theory claims that the painting shows a scene of a secret marriage whereas the painting acts as a type of certification. The wife is depicted to be pregnant which represents fertility, and a bed behind the couple is dressed in all red which which also supports the theory. The single candle in the room is thought to represent the presence of God in the scene. Additionally, the dog is the scene represents marital fidelity,

Van Eyck’s painting is so detail oriented and focused on textures and colors that is has a warmth to it. Van Eyck’s painting has a special event taking place, the actual subject of this event is debatable. The painting is filled with symbolism that points to a union of importance. For example, the shoes sitting in a pile on the floor instead of being on the couple’s feet symbolize a sacred event taking place. The dog in the painting is a symbol of loyalty and the fruit shown on the bench represent wealth. This man is obviously wealthy, everything in the painting points to this. Bruegel’s painting gives us the very opposite side of the spectrum and focuses on a peasant wedding. These people have no abundant wealth and we are shown that by several items in the painting. The porridge

When Jan Van Eyck painted Wedding Portrait, he was intending to communicate the joining of Giovanni and his bride in marriage before there consummation. For instance, even though this is a wedding portrait, the couple is in their bedroom instead of a church. Furthermore, they have their shoes off and the woman is holding her dress up as if she is already pregnant. Thus, Wedding Portrait represents the sacred and holy bond between a married couple before consummation. When I first saw this painting, I thought the woman was already pregnant, but besides that, I understood the premise of the painting. The only problem I have with this painting is that the faces are a little weird. The woman’s face makes her look as though she is depressed and

The assigned portrait is a work by Anthony van Dyck that dates back to 1621, presumably finished before the artist left his native city of Antwerp for Italy (Genua). From the title, we gather that Van Dyck is depicting a family of three. The father is sat on the right, while the mother is sat on the left; they are both facing the viewer. Their young child is positioned on the mother’s lap, its head turned towards the father. The colour scheme includes rich, dark colours for the attire of the couple, a vibrant red colour for the drapery behind the mother and similar shades of dark green for the mother’s skirt, the child’s skirt and the velvet fabric on the furniture approximate to the child’s skirt. Additionally, the inset of the mother’s dress

The first five minutes I spent staring at the artwork, all I saw were lines, figures, and colors. Two hours pass and I started noticing details I had not seen before. Through these two artworks, I caught a glimpse into the artist 's mind and became the storyteller rather

Art, of all kinds, has played a role in our lives from the beginning of time and will continue to play a role in our lives and our emotions until the end of time. Works of art, from music to painting to dance to drama, all have the capabilities to bring out emotions of the people who view, hear or watch it. Many people get different emotions or feelings from different works of art, for example some people get a calming feelings from Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night while others get a feeling of a serious sadness due to the colors. Vincent Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, and Clanet Monet all were great artist who all achieved a great deal of emotional appeal in their works of art.

Van Gogh moved to Arles in 1888, where he wanted to start a colony of artists who would all live and create together (Department of European Paintings). This community did not actually come together because no one went to work with van Gogh. However, Vincent’s hero Paul Gauguin did visit and work with him. When van Gogh heard of this news, he became excited and optimistic. In preparation for Gauguin’s visit, he created a series of bright yellow sunflower paintings. It was his intention to decorate Gauguin’s room in the Yellow House which he had rented with the paintings (Sooke; Wiggins). The blue lines separating the different shades of yellow in the painting might be a reference to Gauguin’s work as this is similar to a technique he sometimes used (Sooke). Gauguin did stay and work with van Gogh for several months (Wiggins). He loved the paintings of sunflowers. These works impressed him and even asked Vincent if he could keep one (Van Gogh Museum). However, the two did not work well together, nor did they get along. Gauguin worked from his imagination and tried to convince van Gogh to paint this way too. However, van Gogh needed a reference to base his works off of and could not simply use his imagination. Van Gogh made paintings of sunflowers in vases in total, though three are copies of his own work (Wiggins). Of the four original paintings, one is in the Neue Pinakothek in Germany, the one featured here is from the National Gallery in London, one was destroyed in World

Many paintings appeal to us because they enable us to see things in them that we would take pleasure in seeing face to face... The mimetic account also starts with the claim that a painting has a valuable aesthetic property only if it represents something as having that property... When we look at a painting and understand it correctly, we typically have a visual experience whose content is determined by the content of the painting. Paintings not only represent objects but also elicit ‘object presenting experiences.’” (Lopes,