Artspeaking topic
The symbolism of the mirror, the dog, and the candle in Jan van Eyck's 'Arnolfini Portrait': let's talk about the power of detail in early Flemish painting.
— Jan van Eyck, 'Arnolfini Portrait' (1434)
practice with this topic
Set the timer (5-30 min), take 20 seconds of prep if you like, start talking. Jot your thoughts onto the sticky-note board.
similar topics
- The same melody sounds innocent on a flute, mournful on a violin, and majestic on brass; the notes are identical, only the 'color' of the sound changes. Where does a sound's character come from, its pitch or its texture?
- What are the melting clocks in Dalí's 'The Persistence of Memory' trying to say about the subjectivity of time and about dreams?
- The birth of Fauvism: why was it considered 'wild' when Matisse and his friends freed color from nature?
- The birth of Impressionism: why did Monet's 'Impression, Sunrise' end up naming an entire movement, and why was it ridiculed at first?
- Why does Picasso's 'Guernica' still hit so hard as an anti-war masterpiece, and what role does its black and white palette play in that power?