Van Eyck: An Optical Revolution

Read full article from The Guardian here.

I recall being an Art History undergraduate some odd years ago, sitting at my all-time favorite Professor von Barghahn’s Northern Renaissance and Baroque art history class, eyes glued to the projector screen’s never-ending slideshow of the period’s artworks, completely mesmerized by the utter brilliance of these masters. That was my first introduction to Jan Van Eyck, and he nurtured my now-permanent love for still lives. Up til this day, I actively seek out every opportunity to visit museums with permanent collections consisting of these periodic artworks. 

2 years prior in 2018, I had the pleasure of visiting the lab in Belgium in which the Ghent Altarpiece was in the process of preservation; thanks to the team of dedicated restorers, the work was finally restored to its former glory.  Fast forward to 2020, the long-awaited Jan Van Eyck show at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, Belgium is finally opening. The exhibition will surely be a blockbuster.