PAINTER

Jan van Eyck

1395 - 1441

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Jan van Eyck ( van EYEK; Dutch: [ˈjɑɱ vɑn ˈɛik]; c. before 1390 – 9 July 1441) was a Flemish painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Northern Renaissance art. According to Vasari and other art historians including Ernst Gombrich, he invented oil painting, though most now regard that claim as an oversimplification. The surviving records indicate that he was born around 1380 or 1390, in Maaseik (then Maaseyck, hence his name), Limburg, which is located in present-day Belgium. He took employment in The Hague around 1422, when he was already a master painter with workshop assistants, and was employed as painter and valet de chambre to John III the Pitiless, ruler of the counties of Holland and Hainaut. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Jan van Eyck is the 36th most popular painter (down from 31st in 2019), the 4th most popular biography from Belgium (up from 6th in 2019) and the most popular Belgian Painter.

Jan van Eyck is most famous for being the first painter to use oil paints.

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Among PAINTERS

Among painters, Jan van Eyck ranks 36 out of 2,023. Before him are Eugène Delacroix, Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Amedeo Modigliani, Joan Miró, and Marc Chagall. After him are Edgar Degas, Masaccio, Jacques-Louis David, Tintoretto, Gustave Courbet, and Alphonse Mucha.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1395, Jan van Eyck ranks 1. After him are Vlad II Dracul, Pisanello, Sigismund Korybut, Michelle of Valois, Niccolò de' Conti, John Jacob, Marquis of Montferrat, Jacques Cœur, Tristão Vaz Teixeira, George of Trebizond, Margaret of Prades, and Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua. Among people deceased in 1441, Jan van Eyck ranks 1. After him are Blanche I of Navarre, Niccolò III d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara, Margaret of Burgundy, Duchess of Bavaria, Ashikaga Yoshinori, Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and Paul von Rusdorf.

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In Belgium

Among people born in Belgium, Jan van Eyck ranks 4 out of 1,190. Before him are Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500), Pepin the Short (715), and Audrey Hepburn (1929). After him are Clovis I (466), Charles Martel (688), Maurice Maeterlinck (1862), Ursula von der Leyen (1958), Philip I of Castile (1478), John of Gaunt (1340), Andreas Vesalius (1514), and Anthony van Dyck (1599).

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Among PAINTERS In Belgium

Among painters born in Belgium, Jan van Eyck ranks 1. After him are Anthony van Dyck (1599), René Magritte (1898), Frans Hals (1582), Rogier van der Weyden (1390), Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564), Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568), Jacob Jordaens (1593), James Ensor (1860), Hugo van der Goes (1440), Quentin Matsys (1466), and Hubert van Eyck (1366).

Belgian born Painters

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