Time for my New Year’s present to you, my friends…

From Feb. 1st till April 30th the largest Jan van Eyck exhibition ever (worldwide!) will be going on in Ghent. Only about 20 works of the Flemish master have been preserved, and half of them will be on display, together with more than 100 masterpieces from the late Middle Ages. Now any decent art lover of course doesn’t want to miss THAT.

From the Van Eyck 2020 brochure: “Want to experience the wonder that the contemporaries of Jan van Eyck felt when seeing his work for the first time? Get closer than ever to Van Eyck’s mastery and admire the revolutionary gaze and genius of the master in detail. ‘Van Eyck. An optical revolution’ will be an absolute once-in-a-lifetime experience. And all this in the context of the theme year ‘OMG! Van Eyck was here’ in Ghent.”
‍

Well, as Van Eyck’s early 15thC ‘Adoration of the Mystic Lamb’, aka the ‘Ghent Altarpiece’, one of the world’s most precious art treasures, is hanging 300m from where i live, in St Bavo’s Cathedral, let’s seize this opportunity to have A MIND BLOWING VAN EYCK PARTY! Yes, let’s meet up! 

I bought 10 tickets and, moreover, found (quite exclusive if i may say so) art rooms for you to spend the night. And, last but not least: my friend Isabelle, who is not only outworldly lovely but also an excellent cook, will serve you a delicious Van Eyck meal. I will help her (if i may. Fire Dept. is on standby). We’ll heave a glass or two and when i’m utterly wasted i’ll start reciting from Own Work. (Yes, show me my bed when this happens.)

‍

ATTENTION, HERE COMES THE PRACTICAL STUFF:

I have 5 tickets for February 27th and 5 tickets for March 5th. You'll enjoy 2 free nights: on February 26th and 27th, or March 4th and 5th.

Have a look at the rooms by pressing these 2 links: art rooms for UntitledXXI Friends, and Artist's Loft (the Artist's Loft comes with an easel, paint, brushes and all artist's materials, so ideal for artists and anyone who wants to give his/her creativity free reign!)

Of course i had to invent some System, as i can’t lodge 20.000 friends at the same time - no matter how much i would like to...

So, if you’re interested to be part of this flabbergasting event, just:

1. fill out your mail address at the bottom of this article (scroll down). Btw even if you’re unable to come this time, do leave your mail address for next (free!) opportunities! And

2. send a mail to info@UntitledXXI.com, with the words VAN EYCK2020, the name of your country, the preferred date, and whether you prefer to come alone or in couple.

That’s it. Piece of cake.
‍

On January 10th a pure virgin hand will pick out the winners. Mind: we give 1 ticket each to friends living less than 300km away, 3 tickets to friends living 300-1.500km away, and 5 tickets to friends living more than 1.500km away. (That’s why we ask the name of your country – see 2. above.) I think this is honest: people living around the corner can more easily pop in to say hello at whatever time of the year, so let’s give the ones coming from far away some advantage this time around. After all, after having sailed for 4.000 miles to get here, you deserve a pat on the back.


CAN’T WAIT TO MEET YOU!


(Btw the picture at the bottom shows the view you'll have when we're having our party. The blue birds in the trees are Maeterlinck's. Yes, the Ghent symbolist writer who won the Nobel Prize in 1911. His main work is called 'L'Oiseau Bleu' - 'The Blue Bird'.)
‍