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Йоханес Вермер Йоханес Вермѐр ван Делфт (на 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 (на нидерландски: Ian Vermeer). Прекарва целия си живот в родния си град, Делфт. Прието е авторството му на около 35 картини. Специфично за него е майсторството, с което предава светлината в своите картини. Съдържание Живот[редактиране | edit source] Сравнително малко се знае за живота на Вермер. Единствените източници на информация са някои регистри, няколко официални документи и коментари от други художници. Младежки години[редактиране | edit source] 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, родом 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. Брак и семейство[редактиране | edit source] Въпреки че е от протестантско семейство, Вермер се жени за католичка на име Катерина Болнес през април 1653 г. Семейството на Катерина е значително по-заможно от това на Вермер. Вероято Вермер приема католицизма малко преди брака си: децата му са кръстени на католически светци, а не на собствените му родители, а творбата му Алегория на вярата отразява католическото вярване в светото причастие (въпреки че не се знае дали тя отразява личните убеждения на художника или тези на поръчителя на картината). звестно време след сватбата, двойката напуска „Мехелен“ и се мести у майката на Катарина, Мария Тинс, заможна вдовица. Вермер остава да живее там заедно със съпругата и децата си до края на живота си. Мария Тинс 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. Кариера[редактиране | edit source] 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 Леонард Брамер (1596 - 1674).[2] На 29 декември 1653 г. Вермер става член на гилдията на Св. Лука, търговска асоциация на художниците. Според документите на гилдията той така и не плаща входната такса, вероятно поради финансови затруднения. С времето обаче Вермер се издига и утвърждава като художник: един от най-богатите граждани на Делфт, Питер ван Ройвен, става негов покровител и клиент. 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 уважаван 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. При смъртта си през 1675 г. Вермер оставя малко спестявания и значителни дългове. Причината за кончината на художника е "делириум" (вероятно менингит или енцефалит). В писмен документ съпругата му отдава смъртта на Вермер на стреса от финансовите затруднения. Катерина поисква от градския съвет да секвестира имотите, включително и картините, за да бъдат изплатени дълговете. Нидерландският учен Антони ван Льовенхук, който е служител в кметството, е назначен за изпълнител на завещанието 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 в няколко професионални поприща, за да издържа семейството си, а също и неговата изключителна прецизност като художник обясняват неголемия брой негови картини. Теми[редактиране | edit source] 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. Влияние от други художници[редактиране | edit source] - 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. Картини[редактиране | edit source] 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, известна и като Изкуството на живописта или Художник в студиото си (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) Известни фалшификации на картини на Вермееер[редактиране | edit source] 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. Вермер в други творби[редактиране | edit source] - 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 режисьора 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. Бележки[редактиране | edit source] - ↑ 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 Външни препратки[редактиране | edit source] - 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 or Jan Vermeer (baptized in Delft with the name Joannis on October 31 1632, and buried in the same city under the name Jan on December 16 1675) was a Dutch Baroque painter who specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of ordinary life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime. He seems never to have been particularly wealthy, perhaps because he produced relatively few paintings, leaving his wife and children in debt at his death. Vermeer worked slowly and with great care, using bright colours, 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. What strikes in most of his paintings is a certain love, which easily could be called a love sickness, for the people and the objects in his paintings.[1] He created a world more perfect than any he had witnessed.[2] After having been virtually forgotten for nearly one hundred years, Vermeer was rediscovered in 1866 when the art critic Thoré Bürger published an essay attributing 66 pictures to him (only 35 paintings are firmly attributed to him today). Since that time Vermeer's reputation has grown, and he is now acknowledged as one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. Contents Life Relatively little is known about Vermeer's life. He seems to have been exclusively devoted to his art 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".[3] Vermeer became the subject of a biography by John Michael Montias: Vermeer and his milieu: a web of social history, where the social history covers up for the elusiveness of the central character.[4] Youth On October 31, 1632 Johannes was baptized in the Reformed Church.[5] His father, Reijnier Janszoon, was a middle-class silk or caffa worker.[6] As an apprentice in Amsterdam he had lived in the fancy Sint Antoniebreestraat, then a street with many painters. In 1615 he married Digna Baltus and in order to facilitate their marriage he brought a testimonial from Delft.[7] In 1620 a daughter Gertruy was baptized.[8] In 1625 Reynier Jansz was involved in a fight. The soldier died from his wounds five months later. A couple of years later Reynier Jansz had started to deal in paintings, but around 1631 he leased an inn called "The Flying Fox". Ten years later he bought a larger inn at the market square, named after the Belgian town "Mechelen". The acquisition of the inn constituted a considerable financial burden.[9] When Vermeer's father died in 1652, Vermeer replaced him as a merchant of paintings. Marriage and family Despite the fact that he was baptized in a Protestant church,[10] Johannes Reijniersz Vermeer married a Catholic girl named Catherina Bolenes. 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 April 5, 1653.[11] Some scholars doubt that Vermeer became Catholic, but one of his paintings, The Allegory of Catholic Faith, made between 1670 and 1672, reflects belief in the Eucharist. It was probably made expressly for a Catholic patron or for a schuilkerk, a hidden church.[12] At some point the couple moved in with Catherina's mother, who lived in a rather spacious house at Oude Langendijk, close to a Jesuit church. Vermeer lived there for the rest of his life, producing paintings in the front room on the second floor. His wife gave birth to 14 children, ten of which survived: three sons and seven daughters. As the parish registers of the Delft Catholic church do not exist anymore, it is not 100% sure whether they were baptized there. The names of ten children are known from wills written by relatives: Maria, Elisabeth, Cornelia, Aleydis, Beatrix, Johannes, Gertruyd, Franciscus, Catharina, and Ignatius.[13] It is very likely that the youngest, Ignatius, was named after the founder of the Jesuit order. Four children were buried in Delft at an early stage (without a name) and their father was Johan Vermeer. When Catharina Bolenes was buried in 1688, she was registered as the widow of Johan Vermeer. Career It is not certain where Vermeer was apprenticed as a painter, nor with whom. It is generally believed that he studied in his home town and it is suggested that his teacher was either Carel Fabritius or more likely Leonaert Bramer.[14] It is possible he taught himself or had information from one of his father's connections.[15] On December 29, 1653, Vermeer became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke, a trade association for painters. The guild's records make clear Vermeer did not pay the usual admission fee, a hint that his financial circumstances were difficult. 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 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 a baker, probably Hendrick van Buyten, who owned one painting he was very proud of. In 1672 a severe economic downturn (the "Year of Disaster") struck the Netherlands. Not only did a French army under Louis XIV invade the Dutch Republic from the south (known as the Franco-Dutch War), but an English fleet, in the Third Anglo-Dutch War, and two allied German bishops attacked the country from the east, trying to destroy its hegemony. Many people panicked, and shops and schools were closed. Some years passed before circumstances improved. The collapse of the art market damaged Vermeer's business as both a painter and an art dealer, as his wife stated later. With a large family to support, Vermeer again was forced to borrow money. In December 1675 Vermeer fell into a frenzy and died at the age of 43, within a day and a half. In a written document Catharina Bolnes attributed her husband's death to the stress of financial pressures. She, having to raise 11 children, asked the High Court to allow her a break in paying the creditors.[16] The Dutch microscopist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who sometimes worked for the city council, 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 among rummage not worthy being itimized, two chairs, two painter's easels, three palettes, ten canvases, a desk, an oak pull table and a small wooden cupboard with drawers.[17] Nineteen of Vermeer's paintings were bequeathed to Catherina and her mother. The widow sold two more paintings to the baker in order to pay off the debts. In Delft, Vermeer had been a respected artist, but he was almost unknown outside his home town, and the fact that a local patron, van Ruijven, purchased much of his output reduced the possibility of his fame spreading. Van Ruijven's son-in-law Jacob Dissius owned 21 paintings by Vermeer, listed in his heritage in 1695, which were sold the year after in Amsterdam. Vermeer never had any pupils and his relatively short life, the demands of separate careers, and his extraordinary precision as a painter all help to explain his limited output. Technique 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, and this view seems to be supported by certain light and perspective effects which would result from the use of such lenses and not the naked eye alone. The extent of Vermeer's dependence upon the camera obscura is disputed by historians. 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. 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 (Braunschweig). The shadows of the red satin dress are underpainted in natural ultramarine, and due 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 Claesz van Ruijven being Vermeer’s patron. Themes Vermeer painted mostly domestic interior scenes. His works are largely genre pieces and portraits, with the exception of two cityscapes. 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. Religious and scientific connotations can be found in his works. Influence of other painters - Carel Fabritius (1622–1654) who spent his final years in Delft. Vermeer's ideas about perspective, and his tendency to paint everyday themes were possibly influenced by Fabritius. - Italian painter Caravaggio (1573–1610), indirectly through Dutch followers. - Leonaert Bramer, another painter from Delft, and witness to his marriage. - Vermeer's mother-in-law, Maria Thins, owned Dirck van Baburen's 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 in one of the artist's early works. Works Only three paintings are dated: The Procuress (1656, Dresden, Gemäldegalerie), The Astronomer (1668, Paris, Louvre), and The Geographer (1669, Frankfurt, Städelsches Kunstinstitut). Two pictures are generally accepted as earlier than The Procuress; both are history paintings, painted in a warm palette and in a relatively large format for Vermeer — Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (Edinburgh, National Gallery) and Diana and her Companions (The Hague, Mauritshuis). After 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 greys. It is to this period that practically all of his surviving works belong. They are 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. Woman Reading a Letter at an Open Window, Dresden, Gemäldegalerie). To this period also have been allocated Vermeer's two townscapes, View of Delft (The Hague, Mauritshuis) and A Street in Delft (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum). A few of his paintings show a certain hardening of manner and these are generally thought to represent his late works. From this period come The Allegory of Faith (c 1670, New York, Metropolitan Museum) and The Letter (c 1670, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum). The often-discussed sparkling pearly highlights in Vermeer's paintings have been linked to his possible use of a camera obscura, the primitive lens of which would produce halation and, even more noticeably, exaggerated perspective. Such effects can be seen in Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman (London, Royal Collection). Vermeer's interest in optics is also attested in this work by the accurately observed mirror reflection above the lady at the virginals. Paintings Attributed and Disputed Forgeries Han van Meegeren was a Dutch painter who worked in the classical tradition. Lured by the huge sums an authentic Vermeer would command, van Meegeren copied Vermeer's style in several of his own paintings with the intention of selling them as works of Vermeer. [19] He forged several works he attributed to Vermeer and other Dutch masters. Van Meegeren fooled many in the art establishment. His aptitude at forgery shocked the art world and complicated efforts to assess the authenticity of works attributed to Vermeer. After Van Meegeren's exposure in 1945 a wave of self-criticism surged through the world of art-museums and many so-called Old Masters disappeared from their walls. Examples are given in the Van Meegeren biography A New Vermeer, see references below. Vermeer in other works - Vermeer's View of Delft features in a pivotal sequence of Marcel Proust's The Captive. - The book Girl with a Pearl Earring and the film of the same name are named after the painting; they present a fictional account of its creation by Vermeer and his relationship with the model. - The book Girl in Hyacinth Blue is about a fictional Vermeer painting of the same name, and the 2003 made-for-TV film Brush with Fate is based on the book. - The liqueur Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liqueur was inspired by and named after Vermeer and its bottle is embossed with his signature and has a logo incorporating the Girl with a Pearl Earring. - 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. - The 2003 children's novel Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett describes the theft of A Lady Writing and has the authenticity of Vermeer's paintings as a central theme. Also, in the sequel to the book, The Wright 3. - Dutch composer Louis Andriessen based his opera, Writing to Vermeer (1997-98, libretto by Peter Greenaway), on the domestic life of Vermeer. - Greenaway's own 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. - "Brush with Fate" was a made-for-TV film debuted on February 2, 2003, on CBS. It followed the life of an imaginary painting by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer as it passes through the hands of various people. - The book and film Girl, Interrupted take their title from the painting Girl Interrupted at her Music. - Jan Vermeer is the title of a song on Bob Walkenhorst's solo album, The Beginner (lyrics here, song #6). Walkenhorst is the guitarist and principal songwriter for The Rainmakers. - No One Was Like Vermeer is the title of a song on Jonathan Richman's 2008 album Because Her Beauty Is Raw And Wild. - All the Vermeers in New York, a film by Jon Jost - Vermeer is the title of a German-language Computer game from 1987, an economic simulation in which the players, through trading of agricultural futures in the volatile markets and quickly-changing economic policies of the early 1920s (to get money) and traveling to art auctions worldwide (to spend it), try to reacquire as many pieces as possible of a collection of paintings that got lost and distributed throughout the world during World War I. The high piece of the collection is a Vermeer; the player who acquires it usually wins the game. The game was one of the most complex economic simulations of the 8-bit home computer area. - In his essay The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley mentions Vermeer as an example of a painter who to some extent manages to capture the subtleties of texture that become so vivid for users of mescaline (or similar drugs). References and notes - ^ Oosthoek's Geïllustreerde Encyclopaedie (1917). - ^ W. Liedtke (2007) Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 867. - ^ Vermeer: A View of Delft The Economist. Retrieved January 9, 2008. - ^ Montias, J.M. (1989) Vermeer and his milieu: a web of social history. Princeton. - ^ Look in http://www.archief.delft.nl/. There 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 = 31-10-1632. - ^ His name was Reijnier or Reynier Janszoon, (in Dutch always written as Jansz. or Jansz), his patronym. As there was another Reijnier Jansz. at that time in Delft, he preferred to use the last name Vos (= Fox) as an alias, but from 1640 on he had changed his alias in Vermeer. - ^ http://www.xs4all.nl/~kalden/dart/d-a-vermeer1.htm - ^ In 1647 Vermeer's only sister married a frame maker, but kept on working at the inn helping her parents, serving drinks and making beds. - ^ Giants of Delft By Robert D. Huerta, p. 42-43. - ^ http://www.essentialvermeer.com/vermeers_name.html - ^ Catholicism was not a forbidden religion, but tolerated in the Dutch Republic, due to the Dutch Revolt. Services were held in secret and Catholics were restrained in their careers, unable to get high ranking jobs in cities' administration or the national government. After 1648 some seemed to have tired of the religious differences and returned to the Catholic church. - ^ W. Liedtke (2007) Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 893. - ^ Vermeer biography, National Gallery of Art Retrieved July 13, 2007. - ^ W. Liedtke, p. 866. - ^ B. Broos, A. Blankert, J. Wadum, A.K. Wheelock Jr. (1995) Johannes Vermeer, Waanders Publishers, Zwolle - ^ The Lying Dutchman [2] Sources - 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 (or possible 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. - Schneider, Nobert (1993). Vermeer. Cologne. Unknown parameter |publishedr=ignored (help) - Sheldon, Libby; Nicola Costaros (February 2006). "Johannes Vermeer’s ‘Young woman seated at a virginal". The Burlington Magazine (vol. CXLVIII ed.) "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. Check date values in: |date=(help) Contains history and color plates, or photographs, of nearly/all works along with commentary and history of them. Also includes background information on Vermeer and his time. External links - Video: Vermeer: Master of Light, The Music Lesson, Part 1 at the National Gallery of Art, Washington - Video: Vermeer: Master of Light, Girl with the Red Hat, Part 2 at the National Gallery of Art, Washington - Video: Vermeer: Master of Light, Woman Holding a Balance, Part 3 at the National Gallery of Art, Washington - Video: Vermeer: Master of Light, Camera Obscura, Part 4 at the National Gallery of Art, Washington - 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 and works, thrustworthy. - Profile - Entry in Britannica - www.Vermeer-Foundation.org Familiar biography and 111 pictures of works by Vermeer - Virtual Vermeer, Familiar biography, interesting entries. - 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.)