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Йоханес Вермер Йоханес Вермѐр ван Делфт (нидерландски Johannes Vermeer van Delft, 1632—1675) е нидерландски художник, майстор на битовата живопис и жанровия портрет. Днес е считан за един от най-великите живописци от Нидерландския Златен век, редом с Рембранд ван Рейн и Франс Халс. Известен е като Йоханес Вермер, Вермер ван Делфт, а също и като Ян Вермер (Ian Vermeer). Прекарва целия си живот в родния си град Делфт. Доказано е авторството му над 35 произведения. Специфично за него е майсторството, с което предава светлината в своите картини. [редактиране] Живот Сравнително малко се знае за живота на Вермер. Единствените източници на информация са някои регистри, няколко официални документи и коментари от други художници. [редактиране] Младежки години Йоханес Вермер е роден през 1632 г., в град Делфт в Нидерландия. Точната рождена дата не е известна, но се знае, че е кръстен на 31 октомври 1632 г., в Реформистката църква в Делфт. Бащата на Вермер, Рейниер Вермер[1], е от ниската средна класа, тъкач на коприна и търговец на картини. Жени се за майката на Йоханес, Дигна, жена от Антверпен, през 1615 г. През 1641 г. семейство Вермер купуват голяма странноприемница („Мехелен“) близо до пазарния площад в Делфт. Рейниер Вермер вероятно е бил освен търговец на картини и съдържател на странноприемницата. След смъртта на баща си през 1652 г., Йоханес Вермер наследява от него „Мехелен“ и търговията на картини. [редактиране] Брак и семейство Въпреки че е от протестантско семейство, той се жени за католичка на име Катерина Болнес през април, 1653 г. Освен религиозните има и финансови различия между съпрузите - семейството на Катерина е значително по-заможно от това на Вермер. Възможно е Вермер да е приел католицизма малко преди брака: децата му са кръстени на католически светци, а не на собствените му родители, а една от творбите му, Алегория на вярата, отразява католическото вярване в светото причастие, макар че не се знае дали тя отразява личните убеждения на художника или тези на поръчителя на картината. Известно време след сватбата, двойката напуска „Мехелен“ и отива да живее при майката на Катарина, Мария Тинс, заможна вдовица. Вермер остава да живее в къщата на своята тъща заедно с жена си и децата до края на живота си. Мария явно е играла важна роля в живота им, тъй като кръщават първата си дъщеря на нея и е възможно да е използвала добрите си доходи да подпомага младия художник и нарастващото му семейство. Йоханес и Катерина имат общо 14 деца, три от които умират преди Вермер. [редактиране] Кариера Не е сигурно къде точно е изучавал изобразително изкуство Вермер. Счита се, че е учил в Делфт и негов учител е бил Карел Фабрициус (1622 - 1654) или Леонаерт Брамер (1596 - 1674).[2] На 29 декември 1653 г. Вермер става член на гилдията на Св. Лука, търговска асоциация на художниците. От писмените документи на гилдията, според които той не е можел отначало да заплати таксата за приемане, може да се съди, че Вермер вероятно е имал финансови затруднения. По-късно той явно се е издигнал и утвърдил като художник: един от най-богатите граждани на Делфт, Питер ван Ройвен, става негов покровител и купува много от картините му. През 1662 г. Вермер е избран за глава на гилдията и е преизбиран през 1663, 1670 и 1671 г., което свидетелства, че той е бил доказан майстор в своите среди, а също и почитан гражданин от средната класа. През 1672 г. обаче Нидерландия е поразена от тежка икономическа криза след започването на Нидерландската война с французите. Това довежда до драстичен спад на търсенето на предмети на лукса, каквито са произведенията на изкуството, и съответно проваля бизнеса на Вермер и като художник, и като търговец на картини. Вермер е принуден да взема заеми, за да издържа голямото си семейство. Когато Йоханес Вермер умира през 1675 г., той оставя на Катерина и децата си много малко пари и няколко дългове. В писмен документ съпругата му отдава смъртта на Вермер на стреса от финансовите затруднения. Катерина поисква от градския съвет да вземе имота, включително и картините, за да бъдат изплатени дълговете. Нидерландски учен Антони ван Льовенхук , който работи в градския съвет, е назначен за попечител на имота през 1676 г. Деветнадесет от картините на Вермер са завещани на Катерина и Мария; Катерина продава няколко от тях, за да плати на кредиторите. В Делфт Вермер е бил признат художник, но е бил почти неизвестен извън града, а това че местният му покровител е изкупувал повечето му картини, е възпряло разпростирането на славата му. Сравнително краткият живот на Вермер, необходимостта да се справя с няколко работи, за да издържа семейството си, а също и неговата изключителна прецизност като художник обясняват неголемия брой картини, които той е оставил след себе си. [редактиране] Теми Вермер рисува предимно жанрови картини и портрети, като изключение правят два градски пейзажа. Герои в творбите му са различни представители на нидерландското общество от 17 век: от обикновената трудеща се млекарка до богатите търговци и знатни хора в техните просторни къщи. В картините на Вермер могат да се доловят религиозни и научни конотации. [редактиране] Влияние от други художници - Карел Фабрициус (1622–1654), който прекарва последните години от живота си в Делфт. Идеите на Вермер за перспектива, както и тенденцията да рисува ежедневни теми вероятно са повлияни от Фабрициус. - Италианският художник Караваджо (1573–1610), непряко чрез нидерландските му последователи. - Леонаерт Брамес, друг художник от Делфт и свидетел на сватбата му. - Вермер е притежавал картина на Дирк ван Бабурен (представител на школата на караваджистите от Утрехт), която се появява в две от собствените му (на Вермер) произведения. [редактиране] Картини Само три от творбите на художника са датирани - Сводницата (1656 г.), Астрономът (1668 г.) и Географът (1669 г.). Днес са известни 35 картини, за които е доказано, че са рисувани от Вермер: - Света Пракседа (ок. 1655) - масло, 101,6 x 82,6 см, Колекция Барбара Пиазека Джонсън, Принстън, Ню Джърси - Христос в дома на Марта и Мария (1654-1655) - масло, 160 x 142 см, Национална шотландска галерия, Единбург - Диана и нейните спътници (1655-1656) - масло, 98,5 x 105 см, музей Маурицхойс, Хага - Сводницата (1656) - масло, 143 x 130 см, Галерия на старите майстори, Дрезден - Момиче четящо писмо до отворен прозорец (ок. 1657) - масло, 83 x 64,5 см, Галерия на старите майстори, Дрезден - Спяща млада жена (ок. 1657) - музей Метрополитан, Ню Йорк - Малката улица (1657/58) - Национален музей, Амстердам - Офицер и смеещо се момиче (ок. 1657) - масло, 50,5 x 46 см, музей Frick Collection, Ню Йорк - Млекарката (ок. 1658) - масло, 45,5 x 41 см, Райксмузеум, Амстердам - Дама, която пие с джентълмен (1658-1660) - масло, 39,4 x 44,5 см, Картинна галерия, Берлин - Момичето с чашата вино (ок. 1659) - масло, Музей на херцог Антон-Улрих (Herzog Anton-Ulrich-Museum), Брауншвайг - Изглед от Делфт (1659-1660) - масло, 98,5 x 117,5 см, музей Маурицхойс, Хага - Момиче прекъснато по време на музика (Прекъснатият концерт) (1660-1661) - масло, 39,4 x 44,5 см, музей Frick Collection, Ню Йорк - Жена в синьо четяща писмо (1663-1664) - масло, 46,6 x 39,1 см, Национален музей, Амстердам - Урокът по музика или Дама на клавесин с джентълмен (1662/5) - масло, 73,3 x 64,5 см, Кралската галерия, Лондон - Жена с лютня до прозореца (ок. 1663) - масло, 51,4 x 45,7 см, музей Метрополитан, Ню Йорк - Жена с перлена огърлица (1662-1664) - масло, 55 x 45 см, Картинна галерия, Берлин - Млада жена с кана вода (1660-1662) - масло, 45,7 x 40,6 см, музей Метрополитан, Ню Йорк - Жена държаща везна (1662-1663) - масло, 42,5 x 38 см, Национална галерия по изкуство Вашингтон - Дама пишеща писмо (1665-1666) - масло, 45 x 40 см, Национална галерия по изкуство Вашингтон - Момичето с перлената обица (ок. 1665) - масло, 46,5 x 40 см, музей Маурицхойс, Хага - Концертът (1665-1666) - масло, 69 x 63 см, открадната през март 1990 от музея Изабела Стюарт Гарднър, Бостън[3] - Портрет на млада жена (1666-1667) - масло, 44,5 x 40 см, музей Метрополитан, Ню Йорк - Алегория на живописта или Изкуството на живописта (1666/67) - Музей на историята на изкуството, Виена - Господарка и слугиня (1667/68) - музей Frick Collection, Ню Йорк - Момиче с червена шапка (ок. 1668) - Национална галерия по изкуство Вашингтон - Астрономът (1668) - Лувър, Париж - Географът (1668/69) - Щеделевски художествен институт, Франкфурт на Майн - Плетачката на дантели (1669/70) - Лувър, Париж - Любовното писмо (1669/70) - Национален музей, Амстердам - Дама пише писмо в присъствието на прислужницата си (ок. 1670) - масло, 71,1 x 58,4 cm, Национална галерия на Ирландия, Дъблин - Алегория на вярата (1671/74) - музей Метрополитан, Ню Йорк - Китаристката (ок. 1672) - Кенууд Хаус, Лондон - Млада жена изправена до клавесин (1673/75) - Национална галерия, Лондон - Млада жена на клавесин (1673/75) - Национална галерия, Лондон Спяща млада жена (музей Метрополитан, Ню Йорк) (1656-1657) Офицер и смеещо се момиче (музей Frick Collection, Ню Йорк) (1657-1659) Млекарката (Национален музей, Амстердам) (1658) Изглед от Делфт (музей Маурицхойс, Хага) (1660-1661) Жена в синьо четяща писмо (Национален музей, Амстердам) Жена държаща везна (1665) [4] Момичето с перлената обица (музей Маурицхойс, Хага) (1665) Астрономът Любовното писмо (Национален музей, Амстердам) (1670) [редактиране] Известни фалшификации на картини на Вермееер Хан ван Меегерен е нидерландски художник, който следва класическите традиции. В желанието си да докаже на критиката, че недооценява таланта му, той решава да нарисува картина, която да представи като оригинал на Вермер. Опитът му е успешен и по-късно той рисува още картини - имитации на Вермер и други художници. Заблудата е разсеяна, едва когато Меегерен е принуден да демонстрира таланта си в съдебна зала, за да избегне по-сериозни обвинения от тези във фалшифициране. [редактиране] Вермер в други творби - Романът „Момичето с перлената обица“ и едноименният филм представят художествена драматизация на създаването на картината и отношенията на Вермер с модела. - Книгата „Момиче в зюмбюлено синьо“ (Girl in Hyacinth Blue) е измислен разказ за недействителна картина на Вермер с това име. По нея е направен телевизионен сериал през 2003 г. - Нидерландският шоколадов ликьор Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liqueur е наречен на името на Вермер, на бутилката има релефно копие на подписа на художника, а логото представлява изображение на картината „Момичето с перлената обица“. - Салвадор Дали има картина „Призракът на Вермер ван Делфт, който може да служи за маса“, 1934 г. - Основната тема в романа за деца „По следите на Вермер“ (2003 г.) от Блу Балиет е търсенето на изчезнала картина на Вермер. - Нидерландският композитор Луис Андрисен създава опера „Писма до Вермер“ (1997-98), по либрето на Питър Грийнауей). - „Brush with Fate“ е телевизионен филм с Глен Клоуз, който проследява съдбата на измислена картина от художника Вермер. Премиерата на филма е на 2 февруари 2003 по CBS. - Заглавието на книгата и филма „Луди години“, в оригинал:Girl, Interrupted, е заето от името на картината на Вермер „Прекъснатият концерт“ - Girl Interrupted at her Music. [редактиране] Бележки - ↑ Името на Рейниер Вермер е всъщност Рейниер Вос, но той използва името Ван дер Меер. - ↑ Биография на Вермер, Национална галерия по изкуство, Вашингтон. - ↑ Открадната - ↑ http://www.nga.gov/feature/vermeer/index.htm Анализ на картината Жена държаща везна на сайта на Националната галерия по изкуство във Вашингтон [редактиране] Външни препратки - The Essential Vermeer website - Сайт с подробна информация за Вермер: биография, картини. - Център Вермер в Делфт - Мултимедиен енциклопедичен сайт за Вермер и животът в Делфт - Вермер в www.artcyclopedia.com - Картините на Вермер в Web Gallery of Art
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Johannes Vermeer Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer (Dutch pronunciation: [joˈɦɑnəs jɑn vərˈmɪːr];1632 – December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle class life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime. He seems never to have been particularly wealthy, leaving his wife and children in debt at his death, perhaps because he produced relatively few paintings.[3] Vermeer worked slowly and with great care, using bright colours and sometimes expensive pigments, with a preference for cornflower blue and yellow. He is particularly renowned for his masterly treatment and use of light in his work.[4] Vermeer painted mostly domestic interior scenes. As Koning points out: "Almost all his paintings are apparently set in two smallish rooms in his house in Delft; they show the same furniture and decorations in various arrangements and they often portray the same people, mostly women".[5] Recognized during his lifetime in Delft and The Hague, his modest celebrity gave way to obscurity after his death; he was barely mentioned in Arnold Houbraken's major source book on 17th-century Dutch painting (Grand Theatre of Dutch Painters and Women Artists), and was thus omitted from subsequent surveys of Dutch art for nearly two centuries.[6][7] In the 19th century Vermeer was rediscovered by Gustav Friedrich Waagen and Théophile Thoré-Bürger, who published an essay attributing sixty-six pictures to him, although only thirty-four paintings are universally attributed to him today.[2] Since that time Vermeer's reputation has grown, and he is now acknowledged as one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. [edit] Life Relatively little is known about Vermeer's life. He was baptized in Delft on 31 October 1632 as Joannis, and buried in the same city under the name Jan on 15 December 1675. He seems to have been exclusively devoted to his art, living out his life in the city of Delft. The only sources of information are some registers, a few official documents and comments by other artists; it was for this reason that Thoré Bürger named him "The Sphinx of Delft".[8] [edit] Youth On 31 October 1632, Johannes was baptized in the Reformed Church.[9][10] His father, Reijnier Janszoon, was a middle-class worker of silk or caffa (a mixture of silk and cotton or wool).[Note 1] As an apprentice in Amsterdam, Reijnier lived on fashionable Sint Antoniesbreestraat, then a street with many resident painters. In 1615 he married Digna Baltus. The couple moved to Delft and had a daughter, Gertruy, who was baptized in 1620.[Note 2] In 1625 Reijnier was involved in a fight with a soldier named Willem van Bylandt, who died from his wounds five months later.[11] Around this time Reijnier began dealing in paintings. In 1631 he leased an inn called "The Flying Fox". In 1641 he bought a larger inn on the market square, named after the Flemish town "Mechelen". The acquisition of the inn constituted a considerable financial burden.[Huerta 1] When Vermeer's father died in October 1652, Vermeer assumed operation of the family's art business. [edit] Marriage and family In April 1653 Johannes Reijniersz Vermeer married a Catholic girl, Catharina Bolenes (Bolnes). The blessing took place in a nearby and quiet village, Schipluiden. For the groom it was a good match. His mother-in-law, Maria Thins, was significantly wealthier than he, and it was probably she who insisted Vermeer convert to Catholicism before the marriage on 5 April.[Note 3] Some scholars doubt that Vermeer became Catholic,[citation needed] but one of his paintings, The Allegory of Faith,[13] made between 1670 and 1672, placed less emphasis on the artists’ usual naturalistic concerns, and more on religious symbolic applications, including the sacrament of the Eucharist. Walter Liedtke in Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art suggests it was made for a learned and devout Catholic patron, perhaps for his schuilkerk, or "hidden church."[Liedtke 1] So, whether it represents Vermeer’s own beliefs or only those of his patron is left to speculation. At some point the couple moved in with Catharina's mother, who lived in a rather spacious house at Oude Langendijk, almost next to a hidden Jesuit church.[Note 4] Here Vermeer lived for the rest of his life, producing paintings in the front room on the second floor. His wife gave birth to 14 children, four of whom were buried before being baptized, but were registered as "child of Johan Vermeer".[Note 5] From wills written by relatives, the names of ten of Vermeer's children are known: Maria, Elisabeth, Cornelia, Aleydis, Beatrix, Johannes, Gertruyd, Franciscus, Catharina, and Ignatius.[Montias 1] Several of these names carry a religious connotation, and it is likely that the youngest, Ignatius, was named after the founder of the Jesuit order.[Note 6] [edit] Career It is unclear where and with whom Vermeer apprenticed as a painter. Speculation that Carel Fabritius may have been his teacher is based upon a controversial interpretation of a text written in 1668 by the printer Arnold Bon. Art historians have found no hard evidence to support this.[Montias 2] The local authority, Leonaert Bramer, acted as a friend but their style of painting is rather different.[14] Liedtke suggests Vermeer taught himself, using information from one of his father's connections.[Liedtke 2] Some scholars think Vermeer was trained under the Catholic painter Abraham Bloemaert. Vermeer's style is similar to that of some of the Utrecht Carravagists, whose works are depicted as paintings-within-paintings in the backgrounds of several of his compositions.[Note 7] In Delft, Vermeer probably competed with Pieter de Hooch and Nicolaes Maes, who produced genre works in a similar style. On 29 December 1653, Vermeer became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke, a trade association for painters. The guild's records make clear that Vermeer did not pay the usual admission fee. It was a year of plague, war and economic crisis; Vermeer was not alone in experiencing difficult financial circumstances. In 1654 the city suffered the terrible explosion known as the Delft Thunderclap, which destroyed a large section of the city.[15] In 1657 he might have found a patron in the local art collector Pieter van Ruijven, who lent him some money. In 1662 Vermeer was elected head of the guild and was reelected in 1663, 1670, and 1671, evidence that he (like Bramer) was considered an established craftsman among his peers. Vermeer worked slowly, probably producing three paintings a year, and on order. When Balthasar de Monconys visited him in 1663 to see some of his work, the diplomat and the two French clergymen who accompanied him were sent to Hendrick van Buyten, a baker, who had a couple of his paintings as collateral. In 1671 Gerrit van Uylenburgh organised the auction of Gerrit Reynst's collection and offered thirteen paintings and some sculptures to Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. Frederick accused them of being counterfeits and had sent twelve back on the advice of Hendrick Fromantiou.[16] Van Uylenburg then organized a counter-assessment, asking a total of 35 painters to pronounce on their authenticity, including Jan Lievens, Melchior de Hondecoeter, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout and Johannes Vermeer. In 1672 a severe economic downturn (the "Year of Disaster") struck the Netherlands, after Louis XIV and a French army invaded the Dutch Republic from the south (known as the Franco-Dutch War). During the Third Anglo-Dutch War an English fleet and two allied German bishops attacked the country from the east causing more destruction. Many people panicked; courts, theaters, shops and schools were closed. Five years passed before circumstances improved. In the summer of 1675 Vermeer borrowed money in Amsterdam, using his mother-in-law as a surety. In December 1675 Vermeer fell into a frenzy and, within a day and a half, died. He was buried in the Protestant Old Church on 15 December 1675. Catharina Bolnes attributed her husband's death to the stress of financial pressures. The collapse of the art market damaged Vermeer's business as both a painter and an art dealer. She, having to raise 11 children, asked the High Court to relieve her of debts owed to Vermeer's creditors.[Montias 3] The Dutch microscopist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who worked for the city council as a surveyor, was appointed trustee. The house, with eight rooms on the first floor, was filled with paintings, drawings, clothes, chairs, and beds. In his atelier there were two chairs, two painter's easels, three palettes, ten canvases, a desk, an oak pull table, a small wooden cupboard with drawers and "rummage not worthy being itemized".[Montias 4] Nineteen of Vermeer's paintings were bequeathed to Catharina and her mother. The widow sold two more paintings to Hendrick van Buyten in order to pay off a substantial debt for delivered bread. Vermeer had been a respected artist in Delft, but almost unknown outside his home town. The fact that a local patron, Pieter van Ruijven, purchased much of his output reduced the possibility of his fame spreading.[Note 8] Several factors contributed to his limited oeuvre. Vermeer never had any pupils and therefore there was no school of Vermeer. His family obligations with so many children may have taken up much of his time as would acting as both an art-dealer and inn-keeper in running the family businesses. His time spent serving as head of the guild and his extraordinary precision as a painter may have also limited his output. [edit] Style Like most painters of his time, Vermeer probably first executed his paintings tonally, using either only shades of gray ("grisaille"), or a limited palette of browns and grays ("dead coloring"), over which more saturated colors (reds, yellows and blues) were applied in the form of glazes. Vermeer produced transparent colours by applying paint to the canvas in loosely granular layers, a technique called pointillé (not to be confused with pointillism). No drawings have been positively attributed to Vermeer, and his paintings offer few clues to preparatory methods. David Hockney, among other historians and advocates of the Hockney–Falco thesis, has speculated that Vermeer used a camera obscura to achieve precise positioning in his compositions, asserting that this view is supported by certain light and perspective effects. The often-discussed sparkling pearly highlights in Vermeer's paintings have also been linked by advocates to the possible use of a camera obscura, the primitive lens of which would produce halation. It was also postulated that a camera obscura was the mechanical cause of the "exaggerated" perspective seen in Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman (London, Royal Collection). However, Vermeer's ownership of and dependence upon the camera obscura is disputed by historians. Aside from the accurately observed mirror reflection above the lady at the virginals, there is no historical evidence regarding Vermeer's interest in optics. The detailed inventory of the artist's belongings drawn up after his death does not include a camera obscura or any similar device. Philip Steadman has found only six Vermeer paintings that are precisely the right size if they were inside a camera obscura where the back wall of his studio was where the images were projected.[17] There is no other seventeenth-century artist who early in his career employed, in the most lavish way, the exorbitantly expensive pigment lapis lazuli, or natural ultramarine. Vermeer not only used this in elements that are naturally of this colour; the earth colours umber and ochre should be understood as warm light within a painting's strongly-lit interior, which reflects its multiple colours onto the wall. In this way, he created a world more perfect than any he had witnessed.[Liedtke 3] This working method most probably was inspired by Vermeer’s understanding of Leonardo’s observations that the surface of every object partakes of the colour of the adjacent object.[18] This means that no object is ever seen entirely in its natural colour. A comparable but even more remarkable, yet effectual, use of natural ultramarine is in The Girl with a Wineglass. The shadows of the red satin dress are underpainted in natural ultramarine[citation needed] , and, owing to this underlying blue paint layer, the red lake and vermilion mixture applied over it acquires a slightly purple, cool and crisp appearance that is most powerful. Even after Vermeer’s supposed financial breakdown following the so-called rampjaar (year of disaster) in 1672, he continued to employ natural ultramarine generously, such as in Lady Seated at a Virginal. This could suggest that Vermeer was supplied with materials by a collector, and would coincide with John Michael Montias’ theory of Pieter van Ruijven being Vermeer’s patron. His works are largely genre pieces and portraits, with the exception of two cityscapes and two allegories. His subjects offer a cross-section of seventeenth-century Dutch society, ranging from the portrayal of a simple milkmaid at work, to the luxury and splendour of rich notables and merchantmen in their roomy houses. Besides these subjects, religious, poetical, musical, and scientific comments can also be found in his work. [edit] Works Only three paintings are dated: The Procuress (1656; Gemäldegalerie, Dresden), The Astronomer (1668; Musée du Louvre, Paris), and The Geographer (1669; Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt). Vermeer's mother-in-law, Maria Thins, owned Dirck van Baburen's 1622 oil-on-canvas Procuress (or a copy of it), which appears in the background of two of Vermeer's paintings. The same subject was also painted by Vermeer. After creating his own The Procuress, almost all of Vermeer's paintings are of contemporary subjects in a smaller format, with a cooler palette dominated by blues, yellows and grays. Practically all of his surviving works belong to this period; usually domestic interiors with one or two figures lit by a window on the left. They are characterized by a serene sense of compositional balance and spatial order, unified by a pearly light. Mundane domestic or recreational activities become thereby imbued with a poetic timelessness (e.g. Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, Dresden, Gemäldegalerie). Vermeer's two townscapes, View of Delft (The Hague, Mauritshuis) and A street in Delft (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), have also been attributed to this period. A few of his paintings show a certain hardening of manner and are generally thought to represent his late works. From this period come The Allegory of Faith (c 1670; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and The Love Letter (c 1670; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). [edit] Legacy - Upon the rediscovery of Vermeer's work in the 19th century, several prominent Dutch artists, including Simon Duiker, modelled their style on his work. - In the first volume of Marcel Proust's novel In Search of Lost Time, entitled Swann's Way, the protagonist Charles Swann is said to be working on an extended essay concerning Vermeer's art. In addition, Vermeer's View of Delft features in a pivotal sequence of a later volume, The Captive, in the same work. - Salvador Dalí, with great admiration for Vermeer, painted his own version of The Lacemaker and pitted large copies of the original against a rhinoceros in some now-famous surrealist experiments. Dali also immortalized the Dutch Master in The Ghost of Vermeer of Delft Which Can Be Used As a Table, 1934. - Han van Meegeren was a 20th-century Dutch painter who worked in the classical tradition. Motivated by a blend of aesthetic and financial reasons, van Meegeren became a master forger, creating and selling many new 'Vermeers' before being caught and tried.[19] - A Vermeer painting plays a key part of the dénouement in Agatha Christie's After the Funeral (1953). - Peter Greenaway's film A Zed & Two Noughts (1985) contains a plot line about an orthopedic surgeon named Van Meegeren who stages highly exact scenes from Vermeer paintings in order to paint copies of them. - Dutch composer Louis Andriessen based his opera, Writing to Vermeer (1997–98, libretto by Peter Greenaway), on the domestic life of Vermeer. - Tracy Chevalier's novel Girl with a Pearl Earring and the film of the same name (2003) are named after the painting; they present a fictional account of its creation by Vermeer and his relationship with the model. The film was nominated for Oscars in cinematography, art direction, and costume design. - Susan Vreeland's novel Girl in Hyacinthe Blue follows eight individuals with a relationship to a painting of Vermeer. The novel follows a reverse chronology from the current period to the time of Vermeer. - The young adult novel Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett centers around the fictitious theft of Vermeer's A Lady Writing. - Historian Timothy Brook's Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World (2007) examines six of Vermeer's paintings for evidence of world trade and globalization during the Dutch Golden Age. - A 2010 Epsom Derby Favourite was named Jan Vermeer.[20] - The song "No one was like Vermeer" by Bostonian singer-songwriter Jonathan Richman pays tribute to Vermeer's painstaking technique. - Bob Walkenhorst in his solo album The Beginner wrote a rockabilly song, "Jan Vermeer", which begins with "I wish I could dance like Jan Vermeer!" - J.P. Smith's novel, The Discovery of Light, deals largely with Vermeer. [edit] Notes - ^ His name was Reijnier or Reynier Janszoon, always written in Dutch as Jansz. or Jansz; this was his patronym. As there was another Reijnier Jansz at that time in Delft, it seemed necessary to use the Pseudonym "Vos", meaning Fox. From 1640 onward he had changed his alias to Vermeer. - ^ In 1647 Gertruy, Vermeer's only sister, married a frame maker. She kept on working at the inn helping her parents, serving drinks and making beds. - ^ Catholicism was not a forbidden religion, but tolerated in the Dutch Republic. Services were held in hidden churches (so-called Schuilkerk) and Catholics were restrained in their careers, unable to get high-ranking jobs in city administration or the national government. - ^ A Roman Catholic chapel now exists at this spot - ^ When Catharina Bolnes was buried in 1688, she was registered as the "widow of Johan Vermeer". In the seventeenth century Johannes was a popular name and spelling was not consistent. The name could be spelled in the Dutch (Johan or Johannes), French (Joan), Italian (Giovanni), Greek (Johannis), or other style depending on background, education or family tradition. - ^ As the parish registers of the Delft Catholic church do not exist anymore, it is impossible to prove but likely that his children were baptized in a hidden church. - ^ Identifiable works include compositions by Utrecht painters Baburen and Everdingen - ^ Van Ruijven's son-in-law Jacob Dissius owned 21 paintings by Vermeer, listed in his heritage in 1695. These paintings were sold the year after in Amsterdam in a much studied auction, published by Gerard Hoet. [edit] References - ^ "The Procuress: Evidence for a Vermeer Self-Portrait" Retrieved September 13, 2010 - ^ a b Jonathan Janson, Essential Vermeer: complete Vermeer catalogue accessed 16 June 2010 - ^ "Jan Vermeer". The Bulfinch Guide to Art History. Artchive. http://www.artchive.com/artchive/V/vermeer.html. Retrieved 21 September 2009. - ^ "An Interview with Jørgen Wadum". Essential Vermeer. 5 February 2003. http://www.essentialvermeer.com/interviews_newsletter/wadum_interview.html. Retrieved 21 September 2009. - ^ Koning, Hans. The World of Vermeer. Time-Life Books, New York. - ^ "Barker, Emma, et al. ''The Changing Status of the Artist'', p. 199. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999. Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=A_1Ady0GAuUC&pg=PA199&lpg=PA199&dq=the+question+remains+why+did+modest+celebrity+vermeer&source=bl&ots=JV9QCG6rNW&sig=hTdRVR-u8W5wONlz9JvnJExoVX8&hl=en&ei=__y3SurBNNWE8Qa57rmTDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=the%20question%20remains%20why%20did%20modest%20celebrity%20vermeer&f=false. - ^ If largely unknown to the general public, Vermeer's reputation was not totally eclipsed after his death: "While it is true that he did not achieve widespread fame until the nineteenth century, his work had always been valued and admired by well-informed connoisseurs." Blankert, Albert, et al. Vermeer and his Public, p. 164. - ^ "Vermeer: A View of Delft". The Economist. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-73409194.html. Retrieved 21 September 2009. - ^ "Vermeer's Name". Essential Vermeer. http://www.essentialvermeer.com/vermeers_name.html. Retrieved 21 September 2009. - ^ "Digital Family Tree of the Municipal Records Office of the City of Delft". Beheersraad Digitale Stamboom. http://www.archief.delft.nl/main.asp?lang=en. Retrieved 21 September 2009. "The painter is recorded as: Child=Joannis; Father=Reijnier Jansz; Mother=Dingnum Balthasars; Witnesses=Pieter Brammer, Jan Heijndricxsz, Maertge Jans; Place=Delft; Date of baptism=31 October 1632." - ^ Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History By John Michael Montias. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ev1xavyduGYC&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=Jacob+van+Loo+schilder&source=bl&ots=KIbHbwPRxm&sig=uwQMdw2PWWl9t8iDyb7XZ1WZgf8&hl=en&ei=IXvVSvXvFsrz-Qa27LH7Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCIQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=fight%20Reynier&f=false. - ^ Andrew Graham-Dixon, The Madness of Vermeer, BBC Four - ^ "Johannes Vermeer: Allegory of the Catholic Faith (32.100.18) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art". Metmuseum.org. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/32.100.18. - ^ "Vermeer biography". National Gallery of Art. http://www.nga.gov/feature/vermeer/bio.shtm. Retrieved 21 September 2009. - ^ Essential Vermeer Retrieved 29 September 2009 - ^ "Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History - John Michael Montias - Google Boeken". Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ev1xavyduGYC&pg=PA207&lpg=PA207&dq=%22hendrick+fromantiou%22&source=web&ots=KHfE7DUVvj&sig=7N55Uhv_T3cWyf-9iPpPkJ9QfHk. - ^ "Vermeer and the Camera Obscura". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/vermeer_camera_01.shtml. Retrieved 17 October 2010. - ^ B. Broos, A. Blankert, J. Wadum, A.K. Wheelock Jr. (1995) Johannes Vermeer, Waanders Publishers, Zwolle - ^ "The Lying Dutchman". Nytimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/books/review/Julius-t.html?_r=2. - ^ "Snap up Snow Fairy". Irishtimes.com. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/0604/1224271818475.html. - Further reading - Liedtke, Walter A. (2007). Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. - Montias, John Michael (1991). Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History (reprint, illustrated ed.). Princeton University Press. - Huerta, Robert D. (2003). Giants of Delft: Johannes Vermeer and the Natural Philosophers: the Parallel Search for Knowledge During the Age of Discovery. Bucknell University Press. - Kreuger, Frederik H. (2007). New Vermeer, Life and Work of Han van Meegeren. Rijswijk: Quantes. pp. 54, 218 and 220 give examples of Van Meegeren fakes that were removed from their museum walls. Pages 220/221 give an example of a non-Van Meegeren fake attributed to him. http://www.quantes.nl/uitgeverij.php?aut=4. Retrieved 21 September 2009. - Schneider, Nobert (1993). Vermeer. Cologne: Benedikt Taschen Verlag. - Sheldon, Libby; Nicola Costaros (February 2006). "Johannes Vermeer’s ‘Young woman seated at a virginal". The Burlington Magazine (1235). - Steadman, Philip (2002). Vermmeer's Camera, the truth behind the masterpieces. Oxford University Press. "Contours of Vermeer". In I. Gaskel and M. Jonker. Vermeer Studies. Studies in the History of Art. Washington/New Haven: Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, Symposium Papers XXXIII. - Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. (1981,1988). Jan Vermeer. New York: Abrams. [edit] External links - (Videos): Vermeer: Master of Light - at the National Gallery of Art, Washington - Part 1: Woman Holding a Balance - Part 2: The Music Lesson - Part 3: Girl with the Red Hat - Part 4: Camera Obscura - Johannes Vermeer Biography, Style and Artwork - Vermeer Exhibition 2008 commentary by Esmée Quodbach of the Center for the History of Collecting in America via the Frick Collection - Vermeer's Woman Holding a Balance In-depth discussion of this painting in the National Gallery of Art along with discussion of the artist's life, conservation, illustration of related works - Essential Vermeer, In-depth coverage of Vermeer's life, works, and environment - Entry in Britannica encyclopaedia - Virtual Vermeer, Familiar biography, interesting entries - Van Meegeren's Fake Vermeers at Arttube (Museum Boijmans) - Vermeercentrum, housed at the site of the former St. Lucas Guild in Delft. (The Vermeer Centre offers a visual voyage of discovery through the life, work and city of Johannes Vermeer.) - Union List of Artist Names, Getty Vocabularies. ULAN Full Record Display for Jan Vermeer. Getty Vocabulary Program, Getty Research Institute. Los Angeles, California. - Painting discovered in Vermeer