You Can See Every Jan van Eyck Portrait in One Blockbuster London Show

Few artists have had as big an impact on the history of portraiture as Jan van Eyck. The 15th-century Northern Renaissance master was among the first artists to depict not only aristocrats or royals, but himself, his family, and everyday merchants or craftsmen. These figures were captured with a startlingly lifelike naturalism thanks to Van Eyck’s unprecedented dexterity with oil paint.

Long dubbed the “father of oil painting,” Van Eyck’s groundbreaking technical mastery and innovative ideas will be on full display later this year. “Van Eyck: The Portraits,” a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition opening at the National Gallery in London in November, will unite all nine of the Netherlandish painter’s portraits for the very first time. That’s nearly half of all 20 known works by Van Eyck.

“None of the stylized likenesses that preceded his work would pass as a portrait today,” said Emma Capron, curator of Early Netherlandish and German Painters at the National Gallery, in a statement. “You would not recognize their sitters if you walked by them on the street.”

This changes with Van Eyck, she added. “Pushing the possibilities of oil painting to convey a convincing illusion of reality, suddenly we are faced with individuals pulsating with life.”

This breakthrough would change the course of in art history, influencing many subsequent developments in the region, including the Dutch Golden Age.

Because many of Van Eyck’s paintings are so precious and fragile, it means they rarely travel, meaning this exhibition may offer the only chance to see these works together. There may be no more fitting location to mark the occasion than London’s National Gallery. The world leading collection of Old Masters has been home to Van Eyck’s most famous painting, (1434), since 1842.

The Enduring Allure of the Arnolfini Portrait

The mysterious portrait depicting a husband and wife of Italian origin living in Bruges, continues to baffle art historians. Rich with symbolism, the painting has inspired endless interpretations, but there are a few things that the specialists can agree on. For one thing, the couple’s wealth is most overtly expressed by one sly clue: an orange placed on the windowsill. This detail may seem pedestrian to contemporary viewers, but a 15th-century Flemish audience would have understood that this imported, exotic fruit was a real extravagance that only the elites could afford.

For the first time, the will be displayed next to a panel from around 1440 that shows the same male sitter, believed to be Giovanni Arnolfini. This prize loan comes from the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, as does the splendid, small portrait of (1435).

The National Gallery also boasts Van Eyck’s from 1433, which is widely understood to be a self-portrait in which the artist wears a ravishing red headdress typical of the times. The work, which is fresh from its recent conservation, will be hung side-by-side with (1439), on loan from Groeningemuseum in Bruges. This highly significant work is the first known portrait of a woman who was not of noble birth.

‘A Foundational Figure’

Another historic feat of this fall’s exhibition is the joint loan of two gems from Vienna’s Kunsthistoriches Museum. (ca. 1431) and (1436) have never previously been borrowed at the same time.

In his painting of Jan de Leeuw, the younger goldsmith gazes at us through the centuries, evincing the psychological depth of Van Eyck’s work. The artist’s use of vibrant color and the clarity with which he details deep furrows and fine lines is beautifully exemplified in his depiction of the elderly cardinal. It was works like these that led to the centuries-long rumor, first spread by the Renaissance art historian Giorgio Vasari, that Van Eyck had in fact invented oil painting. Though this myth has been debunked, it is true that the Flemish painter’s international renown did help popularize the medium.

“Van Eyck is one of the pillars of the National Gallery’s collection and a foundational figure in the European history of art,” said the National Gallery’s director Gabriele Finaldi. “The portraits reflect a remarkable sensitivity to his sitters and an astounding technical virtuosity in their execution.”

This year promises plenty of landmark shows across the U.K. capital. In the fall, the National Gallery’s Van Eyck blockbuster will be competing for footfall with the British Museum’s highly-anticipated, once-in-a-millenium exhibition of the Bayeux Tapestry.