Van Eyck: The Portraits - Art Talk

Discover the brilliance of Jan van Eyck in an evening with Nicholas Flory, art historian and curator of the National Gallery’s landmark van Eyck exhibition. Drawing on his curatorial insights, Flory takes you behind the scenes: the meticulous techniques, the hidden meanings, and the revolutionary vision that made van Eyck one of the most influential painters of the Northern Renaissance. This talk offers a rare chance to hear directly from the curator who brought these masterpieces together - perfect for anyone curious about art, history, and the craft of close looking.

The National Gallery’s exhibition, Van Eyck: The Portraits, brings together for the first time all ten surviving independent portraits by Jan van Eyck. Together they represent about half of the remaining works by his hand anywhere in the world. Van Eyck’s portraits made a radical break with those that preceded them. No longer constrained by older stylistic conventions, his sitters pulsate with life, with every fleeting detail of their features captured. His portraits also represent a transitional moment in European portraiture, when the types of patron who might sit for their portrait began to broaden – van Eyck’s sitters are not limited to members of royal or noble families, but are merchants, craftsmen and relatives of the artist himself. Presenting compelling illusions of a moment captured in paint, the portraits nonetheless often belie their seeming accuracy with enigmatic inscriptions, sophisticated material allusions and witty games which trick the eye of the viewer and their expectations. This talk will discuss these complex and fascinating objects, and introduce the portraits of van Eyck and the contexts in which they were painted.

Expect fresh perspectives, close-looking, and a deeper appreciation of why van Eyck still feels so startlingly modern.