I’ve always confused Van Dyck with Titian and Velasquez and El Greco. I’m a bit clearer about Van Dyck after visiting the exhibition at the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris running through Jan. 25, 2009.
But the take-away isn’t understanding Van Dyck’s place in art history or even being able to distinguish this artist from others but the wonder of looking into the eyes of the people he painted. Hated the paintings of English aristocracy, their faces and poses made skin crawl, but got drawn into many of the others. Loved the painting below, a double portrait with two brothers. It’s the contrast and similarity of the two that I find so striking, the dreary irony in the eyes of the one, the fleeing yet intense gaze of the other.
Van Dyck at the Jacquemart-André Museum, October 8, 2008 to January 25, 2009.
158 boulevard Haussmann, 8th arrondissement, Paris. Metro Miromesnil or Saint-Philippe-du-Roule.