Van Eyck's Portraits

A person’s childhood could eventually lead them to either a success or failure. Two men, later to become widely known across the globe because of their success, have had situations that helped developed them during their childhoods. Two such men would be Frederick Douglass and Vincent Van Gogh. Both excerpts from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass and Vincent Van Gogh: Portrait of an Artist by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, the reader gets an insight into their childhoods. Frederick Douglass was born an American slave, and became an abolitionist. Vincent Van Gogh, lived a normal childhood in the Netherlands, and became a famous painter after death. The childhood of Frederick Douglass lead to his success while the childhood of Vincent Van Gogh did not lead to his success while he was still alive.

Vincent van Gogh is one of the world’s most well-known artists. He was the son of a pastor and was brought up in a religious atmosphere. He thought his true calling was to preach the gospel like his father. He became a preacher in a small coal mining town. This is when he starting becoming very interested in the people and things that surrounded him. He became an artist at the age of 27.

The first thing to notice about this painting is how incredibly involved and realistic the brushwork is. The couple’s faces are so delicately

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 whole face is essentially made of lines, made by the paint. This images makes great use of tone, giving the impression of a shadow on Captain Cook’s face. The colours in this piece are more natural, with hues of grey, pink and peach, creating a skin tone, and smatterings of purples and greens. This image is very texturized, due to the process used by Quilty which is the same as he used in the making of Beryl. This is real texture, as if I ran my hand across it I would feel the texture of the oil paints. However, the texture of the face on the right seems to be much thicker and less blended than the face on the left, which perhaps is where the concept of history becoming blurred comes into play in this piece. Shape in this work is not a key component, although it is still present, with the shape of the Captain’s

What is odd about the painting is that usually the face is masked during surgery, but in the painting it is not. I feel that Rembrandt did is because I feel that even though

Jan van Eyck was born during c. 1935 in Maaseik, Bishopric of Liege, the Renaissance period. He had a sister Margareta, and at least two brothers, Hubert (died 1426) and Lambert was active between 1431 and 1442 (Both of them were also painters). Yet the order of their births is not known. Another significant, and rather younger, painter who worked in Southern France, Barthélemy van Eyck, is presumed to be a relation. It is not known where Jan was educated, but he had knowledge of Latin and used the Greek and Hebrew alphabets in many of the inscriptions, indicating that he was schooled in the classics. (From Wikipedia) The first ever record of 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. This suggests a date of birth

This painting contains an old bald African American with a serious blunt face. The man have bags under his eyes and a large nose. Kapher went into depth making the features of his face a certain facial expression. It size also gave the painting such a vivid appearance with half of the African American face right in the middle-top of the painting. Its colors are brown for the African American male, black for the background; then he used a splatter painting technique at the bottom with navy blue, grey, and white. The splatter at the bottom gives the painting more to observe at than just a fifty year old man with a determined look. I will imagine that Kapher used painting an old man in a concerning mood with his mouth covered will best show a true realistic painting. The painting itself does not show much of realistic art, so I believe it's the meaning that gives the painting a naturalistic art stylistic

It is unknown what the exact meaning of this portrait is, but there are many ideas. What we do know is this couple is already married and the male depicted in the photo is an Italian merchant. In looking at the décor and their clothing, it is known that these two subjects are wealthy. This can also be concluded due to the oranges on the left side of the portrait near the window as oranges were expensive in this era. If you focus on the mirror in the back of the room, you can see that there are visitors. Around the picture frame is the passion of the Christ. Note the attention to detail in this portrait. Van Eyck used a technique in this oil painting that hadn’t been used by creating such voluminous and rich colors by applying many layers of thin paint to get the colors you can see in this portrait. This technique is what made the colors glow as beautifully as they do. There are so many different aspects in this photo that gives it so many layers and meaning, and that is what renaissance art was

Perhaps the most technically impressive aspect of the painting is its remarkable three-dimensionality. Rembrandt is well known for his strikingly accurate portrayal of human shape and form, and this painting lives up to such reputation. With the use of oil paint, he was able to carefully and selectively layer color to create an astonishing representation of the human figure. The most alluring aspect of the piece, in terms of modeling technique, is the face. It contains so much detail; it is hard to believe this painting was done by hand. From the light, wispy texture of the facial hair to the subtle wrinkles surrounding the eyes, attention to detail is what sets this portrait far above many others. Rembrandt’s playful chiaroscuro on the nose and right hand truly give the piece a sense of depth, and the painterly quality of the piece produces a soft and elegant look. Also present within the face is the famous Rembrandt triangle. The result of a specific lighting technique frequently used by Rembrandt, a small triangle is formed underneath the eyes. It is present under the left eye in Marten’s portrait, which gives his face a more natural look. Another technique that intensifies the three-dimensionality of the visible body parts is the use of

His most famous portrait is The Arnolfini Portrait. His most famous religious painting is called The Adoration of the Lamb and it is a panel painting. Van Eyck created different signatures and inscriptions that he wrote on his paintings. This made his paintings more memorable and left no question as to who painted them. Van Eyck’s artwork is

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

Each artist is an individual with a unique style, and although these styles can be similar in practice – the individuality of the artist often proves the discriminating factor for a successful artwork. Self-portraits are beneficial when looking at the individuality of the artist as there are two aspects to look at – the artist’s style, and the artist’s view of him/herself. The latter can provide a brief insight into the mental situation of the artist as well as any apparent influencing factors of the artwork. This view can often also include fragmental insights into the society and culture of the time. Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh are 2 artists of whom are well represented by this statement.

Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most recognized artists in the world. Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands. Van Gogh was born into a family of six children in which his father was a pastor and his mother was an artist. He was named after his stillborn brother who died exactly one year before he was born.

To begin, the proportion of the woman’s gaze accentuates perfection. The eyes introduces a sense of nobility to the piece acquiring a softness at the gaze. Painted with a spherical shape, it allows the appearance to emerge mysteriously throughout the portrait and I quote “Through their roundness, therefore, the mind, knowing itself, is sometimes forced to reveal the secrets thoughts of their