In honour of the Year of Van Eyck in Ghent, the Design Museum is hosting a large exhibition on the innovative and diverse use of colour. The exhibition starts from the unprecedented hues of Jan van Eyck and illustrates the significance of colour to contemporary designers.
Over 100 design pieces demonstrate how light, matter and patterns have their effect on colour. The exhibition showcases colour experiments in product and textile design, ceramics and glass art.
Kleureyck starts from the resplendent hues of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (the Ghent Altarpiece), which have been restored to their former glory. Jan van Eyck created this richness of colour thanks to his innovative technique: he used oil paint and layers of transparent, coloured glazes. That gave his paintings an extreme luminosity and colour saturation. Almost six hundred years later, his knowledge and use of colour remains relevant for designers and artists. In this exhibition, you will discover contemporary works that correspond with or are directly inspired by the colour research and craftmanship of Van Eyck. Curator Siegrid Demyttenaere – in collaboration with Sofie Lachaert for the Pigment Walk – selected work from more than 100 contemporary international designers and makers. They come from different design disciplines, but they all share an affinity with colour.
The Museum is closed until 3 May 2020 to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Kleureyck – Van Eyck’s Colours in Design
the Design Museum
13.03 – 06.09.2020
