L ater this year the National Gallery will be hosting a fascinating exhibition highlighting how Dutch painter van Eyck’s ‘Arnolfini Portrait’ of 1434 was one of the most significant influences on the Pre-Raphaelites as they forged a radical new style of painting in the nineteenth century. Little is known of van Eyck’s origins, but he probably came from Maaseik, near Maastricht, and he is first noted in 1422, working in The Hague for John of Bavaria, ruler of Holland. He originated a style of painting characterised by minutely realistic depictions of surface effects and natural light, made possible by using an oils, which allowed the building up of paint in translucent layers, or glazes. A small group of his paintings survive with dates from 1432 onwards and one of his most famous works is the‘Arnolfini Portrait’. The work was acquired by the National Gallery in 1842 and informed the Pre-Raphaelites’ belief in observational painting, their ideas about draughtsmanship, colour and technique. The exhibition will bring together for the first time the‘Arnolfini Portrait’ with paintings from the Tate collection and loans from other museums, to explore the ways in which Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Sir John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt, among others, were influenced by it. W ith over 60 digital drawings and photographs (many depicting the original Bankside Power Station and adjoining neighbourhood in the late 19th century) the history of Bankside was recently explored in this community show alongside a programme of talks and local guided walks. The exhibition’s imagery and storylines were derived from Bankside’s changing industrial landscapes dating from the late 18th century to the present day. Over the past four years residents and businesses in the area have been engaged in developing a new vision for the Bankside neighbourhood. One of the concluding elements of the local referendum process for the Neighbourhood Plan, the public ballot scheduled for later in 2017, was this exhibition of recent work by artist Adrian Chappell and photographer George Nicholson hosted at the Oxo Tower at the beginning of June. REFLECTIONS:Van Eyck and the Pre-Raphaelites Bankside’s PAST INTHE PRESENT Reflections: Van Eyck and the Pre-Raphaelites 2 October 2017 to 2 April 2018 The National Gallery Trafalgar Square Bankside’s Past in the Present (Part of London’s Festival of Architecture 2017) 1 to 20 June Various locations across London including: OXO Tower, Bankside Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife (1434) by Jan van Eyck Millennium Bridge at Mason’s Stairs by Adrian Chappell © T H E N A T I O N A L G A L L E R Y | C U L T U R E | THE RIVER MAGAZINE | Summer 2017 29