Van Eyck in Depth. Friction and harmony through the eye of architects and artists

Stijn Cole

Spring 2020 marks the openging of the brand-new GUM (Ghent University Museum), located at the centre of the Ghent Botanical Garden, right around the corner from S.M.A.K. and MSK Gent.

For this inaugural exhibition, in the year in which we celebrate Jan Van Eyck, the GUM takes the architect’s viewpoint in order to subject Van Eyck’s painting to scientific analysis. Was Van Eyck, as is generally believed, indeed not familiar with the rules of perspective? Why then does his work exude this sense of harmony? Architect Patrick Seurinck gets to work with these research questions, with the help of a group of UGent students of architecture. In the pop-up, their scientific analysis is confronted with the artistic analysis carried out by four contemporary artists. Similar to Van Eyck, they set out to look for their own perspective.

Exhibition curated by Dr. Patrick Seurinck and Dr. Marjan Doom.