Vermeer 'S Painting in the Context of the Dutch Golden Age of Painting
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27.11.2018 Vermeer's Painting in the Context of the Dutch Golden Age of Painting (part 2) Custom Search home vermeer catalogue glossary painting technique vermeer events vermeer bookshop Vermeer 's Painting in the Context of the Dutch VERMEER: CONTEXT Golden Age of Painting (part three) cultural backdrop: classicism & the hierarchy of subject matter subject matter in dutch painting, Vermeer 's Subject Matter artistic training & technique vermeer 's subject matter Vermeer 's choice of subject matter was of capital importance to his concept of art. No matter how Vermeer news masterfully his works are depicted, it would be incorrect to assume that he painted for the sake of painting vermeer 's subject matter: women and that subject matter was secondary to aesthetics. His range of subjects, although not large, provided a Facebook reservoir of images that permitted him to reach deep and experiment universal emotions. His paintings are Vermeer FAQ arresting for their lack of clear-cut narrative, for their externalization of seemingly inconsequential moments.1 Art bookshops Not a single still life, nude, oil study, finished or preparatory drawing, copy,2 etching or engraving by Vermeer slideshow Vermeer has survived. All 36 (?) surviving paintings must be considered finished works, executed according to the high standards set by the artist, except perhaps, for the four heads (tronien) whose degree of finish, Digital images although aesthetically effective, is more abbreviated in respects to those of the interiors and landscapes. About Nor is there any evidence that Vermeer collaborated with other artists or artisans. The artist worked slowly, The Emergence of Dutch Painting producing two, three or four highly finished pieces a year. His production is very limited even when compared to artists who painted small pictures in a similar time-consuming mode. Some landscape painters from: National Gallery of Art website are know to have depicted more than one thousand works in their lifetimes. http://www.nga.gov/collection/ gallery/dutch.shtm The unusually slender dimension of Vermeer 's opus testifies to the artist 's elevated ambitions. Every The emergence of the Dutch school of component of theme and composition are so meticulously calculated that he could paint no more. painting in the early seventeenth century is one of the most remarkable phenomena in More than half of Vermeer 's entire artistic production had been absorbed by a single Delft patron, the rich the history of the visual arts. The Dutch Pieter van Ruijven (1624–1674). Only a patron could provide economic protection to an artist who worked Republic, a small country that had only become a political entity in 1579 and was so slowly. It seems plausible that Van Ruijven3 had styled himself as a patron of the arts along the lines of still suffering from the effects of a long and his distant cousin François Spiering (c. 1576–1630) who had paid 500 guilders of the right of first option on arduous war with Spain, would hardly seem the works of Gerrit Dou, the most sought-after painter of the late 1660s. In the free-market climate of to have had the resources to nourish and Netherlands such long-term arrangements between collectors and painters were rare. sustain its artistic traditions. Nonetheless, in every respect, the Dutch seem to have drawn Vermeer 's paintings were referred to in his own times with terms such as "perspectives," "little dandies" strength from adversity; they profited in (jonkertjes),4 and "a gay company" (Een vrolyk geselschap).5 The term "little dandies," meaning well- terms of trade, political awareness, religious tolerance, wealth and above all, self-esteem. dressed figures painted in small scale, was also used describe works by Caspar Netscher and Eglon van They were proud of their achievements and der Neer. were determined to provide for themselves a broad and lasting foundation that would Vermeer worked in the following categories: define their unique social and cultural heritage. 1. history painting - 2 surviving works The political and religious attitudes of the 2. brothel scenes (boortelije) - 1 surviving work period are not readily apparent in the work of Dutch artists. The still lifes, portraits, 3. views of a daily life (genre) - 27 surviving works landscapes, seascapes and genre scenes that characterize this school of painting are 4. landscape - 2 surviving works surprisingly lacking in information on the 5. tronie - 4 surviving works major events of the day. Nevertheless, the philosophical bases from which artists worked are clearly the same as those History painting governing decisions in contemporary Although history painting was no longer the dominant art form in the Netherlands a number of Dutch history political, military and religious activities. This ideology was essentially threefold: that painters prospered in Vermeer 's time. A few, such as Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt (1567–1641) or Cesar God 's work is evident in the world itself; van Everdingen (1616/17–buried October 13, 1678) and Jan de Bray (c.1627–1697), had attained that, although things in this world are mortal prestigious commissions from the court at The Hague and financial success. Van Mierevelt and his and transitory, no facet of God 's creation is burgeoning studio churning out hundreds of portraits and allegorical subjects to suit the conservative, too insubstantial to be noticed, valued, or aristocratic vision of the court of The Hague. Vermeer 's foray into the history painting tells us something represented; and that the Dutch, like the ancient Israelites, were a chosen people, about his lofty ambitions and, likely, the type of training he received although neither the whereabouts nor favored and blessed by God 's protection. the master with whom he studied are known. Underlying the essential realism of Dutch Other than the Diana and her Companions and Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, Vermeer is known art, thus, is an allegorical view of nature that to have painted a Jupiter, Venus and Mercury and a Visit to the Tomb. The art historian Arthur K. Wheelock provided a means for conveying various messages to contemporary viewers. The Jr. has also attributed to Vermeer a youthful copy the Saint Praxedis originally painted by the Italian painter Dutch, with their ingrained Calvinist beliefs, Felice Ficherelli. This attribution has not been accepted by many in the Dutch art history community. were a moralizing people. While they thoroughly enjoyed the sensual pleasures of In the first of the two canvases, the Diana and her Companions, the treatment of light is conventional and life, they were aware of the consequences of the three-dimensional spaces is anything but coherent. The planimetric organization of the painting 's wrong behavior. Paintings, even those surface shows little, if none, of the sophistication of his later works. Nonetheless, these few years of artistic representing everyday objects and events, often provide reminders about the brevity of incubation were not without significance for his pictorial evolution. life and the need for moderation and temperance in one 's conduct. Subjects Although important from an art historical point of view, had the two surviving history paintings not been by drawn from the Bible, mythology and the hand of Vermeer, it is likely they would fade into the panorama of competent Dutch history painters ancient history, likewise, were often chosen which enthuse art historians more than the art going public. for their moralizing messages or for establishing parallels between the Dutch experience and great historical, literary and political events of the past. http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/context/context_03.html#.W_0sE-hKhPY 1/8 27.11.2018 Vermeer's Painting in the Context of the Dutch Golden Age of Painting (part 2) Bordeeltje The bordeeltje genre which dealt in mercenary love had long been popular with Netherlandish artists. In the sixteenth century, the pictorial tradition of the brothel was closely associated with the New Testament parable of the Prodigal Son (Saint Luke 15:11-32) who squandered his inheritance on wine, women and song. However, like many other traditional genre themes, during the first decades of the seventeenth century, the brothel scene became gradually distanced from its religious origins and took on a life of its own. In 1658, the 26-year-old Vermeer painted his first dated work, Procuress, different in atmosphere, execution and subject matter in respects to the history works. It is not known why the young artist changed so abruptly his artistic course and embraced the so-called bordeeltjes The Procuress subject. Perhaps, after expected commissions from the Johannes Vermee r nearby court of The Hague failed to materialize, the 1656 Oil on canvas, 14 3 x 130 cm. young painter may have wished to be more in tune with Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dres den his times even though the motif had already been exploited for decades. Although the subject of prostitution seems entirely out of key in respects to his later production, it should be remembered that Vermeer was brought up in his father 's inn where drinking, shouting and betting must have been the norm. Sex peddling, if not witnessed directly on the premises of Mechelen, must have been unavoidable to some degree for anyone who moved about urban centers. The Procuress, which had close precedents in the Loose Loose Company Company by Van Baburen (see image left) and A Concert Dirck van Baburen by Jan Gerritsz van Bronkhorst, is perhaps the first of a 1623 Oil on canvas, 11 0 x 154 cm. long line of borrowed compositions on which Vermeer Gemäldegalerie, Mainz would re elaborate his works according to his own sensitivity. Particularly notable is the Delft painter 's detached treatment of the hot-blooded convention. Although the cocky and/or drunk rake makes no secret of his intentions —his hand is unceremoniously plopped flat upon the young prostitute 's breast—never was a member of the world 's oldest profession was decked out with such fine lace, chaste headgear and a dress pulled so tightly around the young prostitute 's neck that it leaves literally The Procuress everything to be imagined.