From Library Journal
This luscious book is true eye candy, but it's not just another pretty picture book. The text, compiled by the exhibition curator at the Groeninge Museum in Bruges, Belgium, is revealing as well as refreshingly stirring. Written for the general reader, this volume accompanies the large-scale exhibition Jan Van Eyck, 1430-1530 held at the Groeninge Museum last spring. Intended to illustrate the revolution in oil-painting sparked by the work of van Eyck and to present the interaction between the north and south of Europe during this pivotal period, this book invites readers to look, reflect, and draw conclusions on their own. Sixteen signed chapters, such as "Art Markets," "Princes, Patrons and Eclecticism: Naples and the North," and "A New Look on the World: The Invention of Landscape," set a big-picture stage. The catalog section, which follows, is divided into geographical sections (Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal) and is concise and just as well written. Roughly 130 paintings from the 15th century (almost all on panel) generously fill the pages; some are reproduced here for the first time in color. No book has so thoroughly covered this subject in at least 20 years, and the quality of the images makes this more than worth the price. Highly recommended. Jennifer Moldwin Gustafson, Detroit Inst. of Arts
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Library Journal, 1 October 2002
No book has so thoroughly covered this subject in at least 20 years....more than worth the price.
