The official book that accompanies the blockbuster exhibition in Ghent

Flemish painter Jan Van Eyck (c. 1390–1441) towered above his contemporaries. With his unprecedented technique, scientific knowledge and unparalleled powers of observation, Van Eyck lifted oil painting to previously unseen heights and helped determine the course of Western art. In Spring 2020 the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, Belgium hosted the largest ever exhibition of Van Eyck’s work. An Optical Revolution included artworks by Van Eyck, several pieces from his studio and international masterpieces from the late Middle Ages, which made the world of Van Eyck more tangible than ever. Central to the exhibition were the eight restored exterior panels of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, a highly exceptional loan from St Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent. After the exhibition the panels were returned to their original place in the cathedral and will never again be shown elsewhere.

This tie-in exhibition catalogue unravels some of the myths that surround Van Eyck and his technique while showing his complete oeuvre and his influence in a new perspective. With essays by leading experts from around the world, this book is an indispensable resource for Van Eyck fans and scholars alike.

About the Authors:

Maximiliaan Martens is a professor of art history at Ghent University.
Till-Holger Borchert is a German art historian and writer specialising in 14th- and 15th-century art. He has been artistic director of the Municipal Museums in Bruges since 2014.
Jan Dumolyn is a Belgian historian and professor at Ghent University.

This generously illustrated volume on the work of Jan van Eyck makes the world’s greatest art accessible to readers of every level of appreciation

As a 15th-century Flemish painter who spent most of his life in Bruges, Van Eyck was revered for his innovative manipulation of oil paint. Overflowing with impeccably reproduced images, this book offers full-page spreads of masterpieces as well as highlights of smaller details, allowing the viewer to appreciate every aspect of the artist’s technique and oeuvre.

A Revolution of Light and Color

Occasionally, when something seems very familiar you lose sight of what makes it so special: Flemish Masters. From van Eyck to Bruegel sets out to counteract this effect and opens our eyes once again to the revolution that took place in the Low Countries in the 15th and 16th centuries that shaped the course of European art. In 48 lavishly illustrated analyses, Matthias Depoorter explores how painters such as Van Eyck, Van der Weiden, Massys, Bosch, and Bruegel reached unprecedented heights, and are rightfully considered innovators to this day. The defining factor was their perfecting and mastery of the oil painting technique as well as their groundbreaking attention to optical lighting effects. The new technical possibilities offered a different way of looking at the world and ultimately a new way of painting. No less innovative was the level of detail. These painters were thoroughly acquainted with each other’s work — this volume shows the fundamental artistic cross-fertilization. A must-read for anyone who wants to fall in love with the old masterpieces anew.

About the Author:

Matthias Depoorter (*1980) is a writer and an art historian. He was one of the curators of the seminal exhibition Van Eyck: An Optical Revolution at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent and coordinated the accompanying scholarly publication.

Renaissance Realist. The painted world of a Flemish master

Through intricate detail and captivating compositions, Jan van Eyck was one of the most innovative Renaissance artists of the 15th century. Though only 25 surviving works are confidently attributed to him, his extraordinary recreation of reality highly influenced later generations of Early Netherlandish painters. Examine his masterful oil works in this hardcover introduction exploring his spectacular life and oeuvre.

Often imitated but never equaled, Jan van Eyck (c. 1390-1441) left an indelible impression on Renaissance art and paved the way for future realist painters. With its unprecedented precision and masterful use of color, Arnolfini Double Portrait, depicting the wedding of a young couple, is testament to the mastery of the Flemish painter and leader of the Early Netherlandish school. Van Eyck painted both secular and religious subject matter, emphasizing a naturalism and realism that moved seamlessly between 15th-century everyday life and poetic, heavenly settings. Working with oil paint, he innovated the medium, allowing for great intensity and depth of color.

Trace the artist’s impressive oeuvre in this hardcover survey of his work, including altarpieces, religious figures, and commissioned portraits. Featuring enlarged details and close analyses of masterpieces like the Ghent Altarpiece, this publication also offers a chronology of van Eyck’s production, including the output of his workshop which continued even after his death.

The author:

Till-Holger Borchert studied art history, musicology, and German literature at the universities of Bonn and Bloomington (IN). An acknowledged expert on Early Netherlandish painting, he has worked as chief curator at the Groeningemuseum in Bruges since 2002 and as Director of the Bruges Museum since 2014. Borchert teaches art history at the universities of Aachen, Memphis (TN), and Middlebury (VT) and has curated exhibitions in Brussels, Rome, Madrid, and New York. He heads the Flemish Research Centre for the Arts in the Burgundian Netherlands.

About the series:

Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. 

Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series features:
- a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
- a concise biography
- approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

The revised edition of Van Eyck in Detail is also available in a compact format. 

This fascinating book looks at the work of Jan van Eyck under a magnifying glass. Each panel is a collection of minuscule details rendered with superb clarity from foreground to background – or at least that is the impression at first glance. As this book reveals, that is precisely where Van Eyck's exceptional talent lies: he understood that the human brain is able to supplement visual perception where necessary.

Here, details from Van Eyck's paintings are organised by such themes as nature, architecture, daily life, the Divine and humankind. Opening with a biographical note and an introduction on the technique of oil painting on panel, the authors explain the significance of the individual details and how Van Eyck achieved his innovative artistic results. This is an unprecedented look at the work of a popular master.

With new photography of the restored Ghent Altarpiece and a catalogue of Van Eyck’s oeuvre.

Published to accompany the exhibition at the Groeninge Museum, Bruges, this volume celebrates and examines the tremendous influence the Flemish Primitives had on their eastern neighbours in Central Europe, from 1430 to 1530, focusing in particular on the pre-eminent Flemish and German masters of this period, Jan van Eyck and Albrecht Dürer.

In addition to well-known (and less well-known) works by Flemish Primitives, the book also reproduces a selection of artistic gems by less celebrated painters from Germany, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Estonia.