About this site

EarlyNetherlandish.com is a publication dedicated to independent research, content and thoughts on Early Netherlandish art — primarily from the early 15th century to the early 16th century.

My name is Meir, I'm a private collector and independent researcher. I became interested in the Flemish Primitives recently in June 2022, when I revisited the Met with a fresh set of eyes from top to bottom and was struck by the quality and craftsmanship of the Netherlandish works, in particular the massive Annunciation panel by Hans Memling. Some of the qualities of the art of this period that appeal to me, among many others, include the fine details and focus on accurately capturing the natural world and the mastery of the medium and the techniques (of oil painting, miniature painting, wood carving, etc). In the 15th century Van Eyck, Campin, Van der Weyden, the Limbourg Brothers, etc, rose out of "nowhere" and became some of the greatest artists ever in the blink of an eye. A century later, with the introduction of mannerism and the late Italian influenced Antwerp school's rise to prominence, the quality and craftsmanship of their art was lost and has never again been achieved. With this starting point, I seek to expand my own knowledge as a collector, researcher and connoisseur, and make information about the art history of this period available and comprehensible to more people.