NEW YORK—We are besieged by a myriad of images. Yet some pictures command our attention—even in this age of distraction. Few pictures, however, can elicit tears of wonderment. And even fewer can claim to have a function like speeding up one’s ascent to heaven, no less. If you visit the current exhibition in the small Cabinet Gallery of The Frick Collection, you might hear someone gasp in amazement.
“The Charterhouse of Bruges: Jan van Eyck, Petrus Christus, and Jan Vos” is on view at The Frick Collection until Jan. 13, 2019.
Beautifully curated by Emma Capron, the Frick’s 2016–18 Anne L. Poulet Curatorial Fellow, this small exhibition has the power to command all of your attention.
You may discover a small figure hidden in the bushes in the background of the central painting, or feel mesmerized by a vivid portrait of a bearded man who seems to be looking straight through you, or you may simply admire how the artists rendered textures so vividly. As you linger over the medieval works, with a magnifying glass in hand, losing track of time, you might hear yourself gasp as well.
