Last Weeks For Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible At The Met Breuer

The Albrecht Durer Salvator Mundi provided insight into his painting process and provided a nice comparison of what was happening with the preliminary underpainting at the same time in Italy. Durer approached his subject as he would his etchings. He crosshatched his drawing, shadows being denser cross hatchings. Jan van Eyck’s painting of Saint Barbara (1437) is a bit of an enigma- did the artist mean the work to be a finished drawing, which would have been considered unusual at the time, or was it meant to be a preparation for a painting.

The exhibition is accompanied by a substantial catalogue which I will be happy to have once the exhibit ends. This is an exhibit to be savored, particularly through the eyes of an artist.