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  • Posts Tagged ‘Vermeer’

    THIS IS THE YEAR FOR VERMEER

    Sunday, January 8th, 2023
    Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) – Girl with a Pearl Earring 1664-67, Mauritshuis, The Hague

    This is the year for Vermeer. Excitement is building in advance of the opening on February 10 of the Rijksmuseum exhibition in Amsterdam which has been bolstered by loans from the US, Europe and Japan to become the largest Vermeer show ever.  At least 27 out of his very small oeuvre of around three dozen paintings loaned from the most prestigious museums in the world will be on display. Among the highlights is Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid c1670 from the collection of Ireland’s National Gallery.  In an extraordinary gesture the Frick Collection in New York has lent all three of its Vermeer masterpieces, The Girl Interrupted at Her Music, Officer and Laughing Girl and Mistress and Maid.

    Highlights include The Girl with a Pearl Earring  from the Mauritshuis in The Hague, The Geographer from the Stadel Museum, Frankfurt and Woman Holding a Balance from the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Another Vermeer from the Washington museum, Girl with a Flute, is the source of the sort of gleeful controversy that always dogs the art world. The National Gallery of Art in Washington announced recently that after long and careful scientific study it had decided that this painting was not by Vermeer and most likely by a pupil or apprentice.The director of the Rijksmuseum Taco Dibbits said that their view is more inclusive and they had decided the work should be in the show. Dibbits said there were questions about the authenticity of other works too and that their analysis showed that Vermeer was an artist who experimented and took different artistic routes.

    Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) – The Geographer, Stadel Museum, Frankfurt.

    Last year the Rijksmuseum announced that advanced scientific studies into one of its own Vermeers, The Milkmaid, yielded several startling discoveries. Two objects in the world famous canvas, a jug holder and a fire basket, had been painted over by the artist. Analysis revealed an underpainting and offered insights into the processes of Johannes Vermeer as he sought to capture the tranquility for which his work is famous. This is the first time that the Rijksmuseum, the National Museum of The Netherlands, has dedicated a retrospective to the 17th century master. It will run until June 4.

    RIJKSMUSEUM MAKES DISCOVERIES ABOUT THE MILKMAID BY VERMEER

    Thursday, September 8th, 2022
    The Milkmaid, Johannes Vermeer, c. 1660. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

    Advanced research technologies into the Vermeer painting The Milkmaid, conducted in the run-up to Rijksmuseum’s major Vermeer exhibition in 2023 has yielded several startling discoveries.  Advanced research technologies have brought to light two objects on Vermeer’s world-famous canvas:  a jug holder and a fire basket.  The artist himself later painted over the objects.  The most recent scans also uncovered what is clearly an underpainting. These discoveries offer revealing insights into Vermeer’s process and his search for capturing the tranquil atmosphere that characterises his work.

    The general assumption was that the artist produced his small oeuvre very slowly, and always worked with extreme precision.  This view is now being revised.  A hastily applied thick line of black paint can be seen beneath the milkmaid’s left arm.  This sketch shows clearly that Vermeer first quickly painted the scene in light and dark tones before developing the detail. A similar preliminary sketch in black paint can be seen on the wall behind the young woman’s head.  By comparing the results it has now become clear that Vermeer used black paint to sketch a jug holder and several jugs, but didn’t develop them any further.  The jug holder, a plank of wood with knobs attached, was used in 17th-century kitchens for hanging up multiple ceramic jugs by the handle.  A pantry in Vermeer’s own home contained a similar item. Scientists identified the previously discovered basket, at the lower right of the painting, as a so-called ‘fire basket’.  Woven from willow stems, or withies, this type of basket was a standard household item for young families.  A fire bowl containing glowing coals was placed in the basket to keep new-borns warm and to dry nappies. 

    Tickets for the Vermeer exhibition from February 10 – June 4 2023 go on sale today on the Rijksmuseum website: rijksmuseum.nl/Vermeer

    A LARGE ASSEMBLY OF VERMEERS AT IRELAND’S NATIONAL GALLERY

    Tuesday, June 20th, 2017

    Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting at the newly refurbished National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin until September 17 includes as many as ten works by the artist. This represents almost one third of the surviving oeuvre of Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675).  It is the third highest number of works by the artist ever assembled in the world.

    The National Gallery of Ireland’s Vermeer, Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid, c.1670, which is regarded as one of the artist’s finest works, will be shown alongside other exquisite works including Woman with a Balance, c.1663–4 (National Gallery of Art, Washington); Woman with a Pearl Necklace, 1663-4 (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin); The Astronomer, 1668 (Musée du Louvre, Paris) and The Geographer, 1669 (Städel Museum, Frankfurt-am-Main). Paintings of daily life by contemporaries of Vermeer, including Gerrit Dou, Gerard ter Borch, Jan Steen, Gabriel Metsu, Pieter de Hooch and Frans van Mieris, will also feature.  The show brings together some 60 paintings from around the world.

    It is organised by the National Gallery of Ireland in collaboration with the Musée du Louvre, Paris, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington. An illustrated catalogue (published by Yale University Press) will accompany the exhibition.

    Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675)
    Woman Writing a Letter with Her Maid, c.1670
    Photo © National Gallery of Ireland

    Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) Woman with a Balance, c. 1663–4
    Widener Collection. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

     

    CARAVAGGIO OPENS AT NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND

    Saturday, February 11th, 2017
    The first of two of this years highly anticipated exhibitions at the National Gallery of Ireland – which amounts to an embarrassment of riches by Caravaggio and Vermeer – opens today in Dublin.   Beyond Caravaggio brings together over 40 works including four by Caravaggio as well as significant works by those artists he influenced. It runs from today until May 14.
    It will be followed in June by a show which will bring together 60 paintings from around the world, including no less than ten by Vermeer. This represents almost a third of his surviving oeuvre. Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry will include work by Gabriel Metsu, Jan Steen, Gerard ter Borch, Pieter de Hooch and Frans van Mieris.  Organised by the National Gallery in conjunction with the Louvre and the National Gallery of Art in Washington it will run from June 17 to September 17.

    Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) Boy bitten by a Lizard, 1594-5 The National Gallery, London © Copyright The National Gallery, London 2017

    Francesco Buoneri (or Boneri) called Cecco del Caravaggio (c.1589–after 1620) A Musician, c.1615 The Wellington Collection, Apsley House (English Heritage)
    Photo: Apsley House, London © Historic England