Van Dyck in Britain

Rather luscious exhibition at Tate Britain of the work of Van Dyck in Briain and for British painters.

This was one of those exhibitions which becomes a portrait of a generation. I always think of Van Dyck as the painter of the Civil War but was surprised to find he died the year before it started. Instead he is recording that moment just before its outbreak. With the rich fabrics and courtly life I had a real sense of a society which could not have continued as it was. That something had to happen. It reminded me of Edwardian England just before the First World War and I was pleased to find that two of the last pictures in the exhibition were Sargents.

The exhibition was set into a context very well with a room at the start devoted to art in England before Van Dyck’s arrival and two rooms at the end on his influence since his death. The tape tour was good two setting up a narrative and acting as a proper guide around the show rather than just a click the number at the picture approach. I did find though that some pictures were very badly lit. I think they were too tall for the room so often the spotlights set up a glare on the faces.

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