Travel Broadens the Mind - Artists and their Travels from Van Eyck to Gauguin

This Discovery Day will explore in depth the lure of travel and its impact upon the work of artists from the Renaissance to the 19th Century. For example, Rogier van der Weyden travelled to Italy and was impressed by the work of Fra Angelico. Italian artists were equally influenced by the work of Weyden. Just before van Eyck completed the Ghent Altarpiece in 1432, he was sent by Philip the Good of Burgundy to collect the Duke's bride, the Infanta of Portugal. Upon his return Van Eyck inserted into his altarpiece the exotic plants and trees he had seen on his travels.

In 1551 Bruegel went on a study tour to Italy, but what impressed him was not so much Italy but more the Alpine ranges of mountains and these stayed with him and were included in so many of his great paintings and prints on his return.

In the 17th century Rubens travelled to Spain and Italy and what he produced during his future career was shaped by those journeys. Van Dyck's stay in Italy and his experience of seeing the work of Titian enabled him to transform British painting for the next 300 years.

In the 19th century Delacroix at the beginning and Gauguin towards the end of the century travelled further outside Europe, to North Africa and the South Seas respectively. How did their travels transform their work?