Customer Reviews

The Flemish Primitives: The Masterpieces

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Buy this book for the pictures. If you're here not by accident, then you must buy this book. There is almost nothing of this breath-taking pictorial quality, especially for the details. Are the letters "JANEYCK" hidden in the letters of the "Campin's" Merode vase? Did you know the Eyck's Adam had hairy nipples? This book may well allow you to see/believe that Hubert was not Jan's shadow, but actually the better painter, as the contemporary inscription always claimed. Shiver as you see the enamelling under the jewels on Jesus' medallion, then check out His hem-stitchery. See Jan's red shadowing of wrinkles in his self-portrait centuries before Rubens. The Portinari triptych: Is there smoke coming from St Anthony's nether region and did you see the shoe in St Margaret's monster's mouth? At least now you can clearly see.
Should you find what you're looking for in the text, that's a bonus. To me a lot is arthistoriantalk, mixed with some of what's available as scholarship. Description of routine skinfolds as "calligraphic", a routine thumb as a "taut crescent moon" are over the top. Then again, how does one describe chocolate or espresso other than via perfumery? You'd be hard pressed describing the male hands of the Goes "Adoration" without hyperbole. Buy this book. Perhaps other publishers will realize the standard they need to meet. So too the coming generation of Eyckian revival painters now struggling to see, as the Flemish Primitives saw.

The Flemish Primitives by Dirk de Vos is one of the most beautiful art books I have ever seen. Each of the twenty chapters is devoted to a single work by one of the eight painters rather inappropriately dubbed the Flemish Primitives. Their work was anything but primitive in the everyday sense of that term. The work of the masters of the Flemish School of the fifteenth century is characterized by a heightened realism, crystalline clarity of light, extraordinary attention to minute detail, intensely saturated color, a profound religious sensitivity, and an astonishing ability to reveal character through facial expression and bodily gesture. Nevertheless, these works never let the staggering accumulation of precise detail and the intricate symbolism of objects and setting obscure the overall sense of design and pictorial unity. If you have never fully appreciated the work of van Eyck, van der Goes, Memling, or van der Weyden, this book will convince you of their greatness. It will also remind you that there was a Renaissance in the North as well as in Italy -- each cross-fertilizing the other and each distinct in its approach to the handling of color and light in its depiction of religious subjects and portraiture.

The text is authoritative and readable, written in clear language and refreshingly free of art-speak. It is brief, letting the magnificent color photographs, many of them full-page, speak for themselves. Most of the illustrations focus on details that cannot be fully appreciated in any other way. The power of the paintings comes through forcefully and with great effect. The portrait of Canon vander Paele by Jan van Eyck puts us in the presence of a living, breathing person who is clearly ill and declining; The Last Judgement by Hans Memling is terrifying in its power and scope; and the intensity of the execution scene in The Judgement of Cambyses by Gerard David makes it almost unbearably painful to look at.

In short, this book is a treasure. A tip on handling the book: some of the illustrations are printed on a black background which easily picks up fingerprints and oil from your skin; it helps to use a cloth or tissue to turn those pages to keep them clean. If this book whets your appetite for van Eyck, see also Jan van Eyck: The Play of Realism by Craig Harbison.

This book on the Flemish masters of the 15th century surveys the age with a discussion of twenty selected masterpieces. The author, Dirk de Vos, has written a number of books in the field, including two major studies of the complete works of Hans Memling and Rogier van der Weyden. He writes with assurance, but never talks down to his reader. Scholarly details are kept down and de Vos does a good job presenting the works in a more generally accessible style. The title though is inexcusable. There is nothing 'primitive' about these masterpieces, and despite his disclaimer de Vos should know better than to use so loaded and pejorative an adjective.

The breakdown of works discussed:

Robert Campin - The Flemale Panels, The Merode Triptych
Jan van Eyck - The Ghent Altarpiece, Man in a Red Chaperon, Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife, The Madonna with Canon van der Paele.
Rogier van der Weyden - The Descent from the Cross, Triptych with the Adoration of the Magi (Columba Altarpiece), Portrait of Anthony of Burgundy, Diptych of the Crucifixion.
Petrus Christus - The Nativity.
Dieric Bouts - Triptych with the Martyrdom of St. Erasmus, Altarpiece with the Last Supper.
Hugo van der Goes - The Adoration of the Magi (Monforte Altarpiece), The Death of the Virgin, The Portinari Triptych.
Hans Memling - The Last Judgement, The St. John Altarpiece, Diptych of Maarten van Nieuwenhove.
Gerard David - The Judgement of Cambyses.

This good-sized hardcover allows these works a reasonable format, but for half as much you might consider as an alternative Early Flemish Painting by Jean-Claude Frere Early Flemish Painting (Smart) Both books are about the same size, with the de Vos book about an inch taller, and both have about the same number of illustrations. The Frere book offers a few more painters and paintings but fewer examples for each work. The quality of the reproductions vary from artist to artist, but overall the Frere book's pictures lack the latest technological touch-ups found in the de Vos book. Thus in the de Vos book the Merode Altarpiece comes across as whitewashed, with details of wood and paper far brighter, though with less detail than the Jean-Claude Frere work. Rogier van der Weyden's masterpiece, The Descent from the Cross, appears completely cleaned up in comparison to the images in the Frere. Has the painting been the subject of a massive interventionist restoration? In the image from Frere's book the painting, on wood panel, is muddy in color and has massive vetical lines dividing the sections. De Vos shows a work utterly cleaned up, dividing lines missing, startling bright Tide-clean blues and reds, and with the color of Mary's face approaching grisaille. Has the painting been improved through restoration or merely fancy editing? I don't know - maybe a reader who has recently seen the work in person can answer this question. It looks wonderful, but it gives me pause. Especially those missing lines in the panels.

The text itself is up to date, but with certain paintings, such as the Arnolfini Portrait, far more expansive studies exist. The Arnolfini Betrothal: Medieval Marriage and the Enigma of Van Eyck's Double Portrait (Discovery Series, 3) I also don't consider all these painters comparable - not a very popular attitude to take in the contemporary world of Art History, where taking sides is strictly verboten, but that's what makes handicapping in horse racing so popular.

So, if you like these works or are curious about them this is an excellent way to see them in excellent reproductions. Some of the images may be a little too cosmetically improved, but most people will prefer this. If, like me, you can handle more than one book on what after all are some of the greatest paintings of the Renaissance, the earlier work by Frere offers a great price, good size, and some differing examples to go along with the famous works. Most people will prefer the de Vos with the super colors. I find both books valuable and am very happy with each.

Nicely moves from one painting to the next in contextualizing the significance of each. Reproduction of the entire paintings often not very good, some of the originals were mammoth making downsizing difficult, but more than made up for by focused reproductions of parts of each. Essays on the paintings can be free-flowing and often end abruptly. Overall, a rewarding collection. Those interested in more detailed analysis should consult the author's masterly study of Rogier Van Der Weyden.

For a small book, the selection of paintings, and the production values are excellent - especially important with the northern renaissance because of the richness of detail and subtlety of color. Each painting is reproduced as a whole and again in detail, and the text is a pleasure. This is a great "starter text" for anyone who wants an introduction to painters I generally find preferable to contemporaneous artists of the italian renaissance. Buy it.

This is a are work that beautifully describes these paintings. I have seen most of them for real since I live in Flanders. The book gives a very accurate and good description of some of these masterpieces. The print is excellent. It's an extraordinary addition to the library of any artlover!

[These are not my comments from from another source that includes details of dimensions] Publisher Comments: Intensely realistic, piercingly beautiful, the art of the Flemish Primitives inspires powerful emotional responses. Painted during the fifteenth century, in the southern Netherlands, these influential and enduring works helped establish the foundations of modern European painting.
Sumptuously illustrated with more than two hundred color reproductions, including many newly photographed details, this gorgeous book showcases the art of these master painters of the Northern Renaissance. It focuses on thoughtfully selected major works by the most important of the artists who were later--and rather misleadingly--dubbed the Flemish Primitives: Robert Campin (the Master of Flemalle), Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Petrus Christus, Dieric Bouts, Hugo van der Goes, Hans Memling, and Gerard David.

Working at the hub and heart of the Burgundian realm, these artists ushered in the triumph of realism. Their new system of painting in transparent layers yielded colors of a saturation and depth never before seen and imbued their sensual human forms with a stunning luminosity. They developed new symbolic associations, experimented with light, and expressed the cultural changes taking place around them, including a heightened spirituality and the emergence of a wealthy bourgeoisie.

Dirk de Vos's fluidly written text highlights the artists' remarkable technical innovations while also considering the rapidly evolving economic and social milieu in which they worked. The result is both a thoughtful assessment of some of Europe's greatest masterpieces and a glorious tribute to the artists who bestowed them on the world.

Review:
"The colour is rich and exact and the detailed plates show every nuance of the gold and damask cloth depicted in these luminous painted surfaces". Sue Hubbard, The Independent-London

Product Details
Pages:216
Dimensions:13.02x9.86x.85 in. 3.63 lbs.

This book has some of the most lavish color plates I've ever seen in an art folio, and so many! They're large, too, sometimes taking up an entire page with no borders, and lots of enlarged details. I wish I could afford to buy it- I checked it out from the University Library and I don't want to give it back! You'll have to ignore the condescending-sounding title. Despite that paltry moniker,this book is a feast for the eyes and the soul!