Van Dyck, the European
JS Marcus | The Art Newspaper | 22nd June 2026
Van Dyck knew success from early on. Taught by Rubens he worked in Antwerp, Genoa and London, where the prosperous wanted portraits that declared, in a handsome way, their public persona. Van Dyck was alert to this but alongside their “serene opulence” he wanted also to show the private personality. Stiff, straightforward portraiture in Stuart England and in Europe was changed forever. Says one writer, without van Dyck “there would have been no Reynolds, no Gainsborough and no Sargent”.