Work
Jan van Eyck produced paintings for private clients in addition to his work at the court. Foremost among these is the Ghent Altarpiece painted for Jodocus Vijdts and his wife Elisabeth Borluut. Started sometime before 1426 and completed, at least partially, by 1432, this polyptych has been seen to represent "the final conquest of reality in the North", differing from the great works of the Early Renaissance in Italy by virtue of its willingness to forgo classical idealization in favor of the faithful observation of nature.
Exceptionally for his time, van Eyck often signed and dated his frames, then considered an integral part of the work (the two were often painted together, and while the frames were constructed by a body of craftsmen separate to the master's workshop, their work was often considered as equal in skill to that of the painters). His signature "ALS IK KAN" ("AS I CAN") is taken from the Flemish saying "As I can, not as I would". It is because of his habit of signing his work that his reputation has survived and that attribution has not been as difficult and uncertain as with other first generation artists of the early Netherlandish school.
Read more about this topic: Jan Van Eyck
Famous quotes containing the word work:
“So your work and you shall reinforce yourself.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Evil gains work their punishment.”
—Sophocles (497–406/5 B.C.)
“Until women learn to want economic independence ... and until they work out a way to get this independence without denying themselves the joys of love and motherhood, it seems to me feminism has no roots.”
—Crystal Eastman (1881–1928)