Vermeer

Phaidon Colour Library

by Martin Bailey

Johannes Vermeer of Delft (1632-75), known as 'the painter of light', was one of the most talented artists of the Dutch Golden Age. Only 36 of his paintings survive and little is known about his life, yet he is one of the most popular of the Old Masters. His tranquil and meticulously painted interiors, of such subjects as women writing or reading love letters, and men and women drinking together or playing musical instruments, are acutely observed and have an enduring appeal, both for their subject-matter and for the artist's breathtaking technique and sensuous handling of paint.

Vermeer was raised in an inn, and he followed in his father's footsteps, becoming an innkeeper and an art dealer, as well as an artist. He qualified as a master painter in the Delft artists' Guild in 1653 and remained in the town all his life. He was greatly influenced by the artistic milieu, particularly by the painters Carel Fabritius, Leonaert Bramer, Pieter de Hooch and Gerard Dou. This book illustrates in colour all his extant works, including the magnificant townscape,  View of Delft , and the allegory,  The Art of Painting ; with 12 telling details, it provides an excellent overview of his work and technique.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published October 16, 1995

Reviews

[Patrick Sherriff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to draw the Girl with a Pearl Earring for my Saturday art class (which ended up looking more like a ghoul with a pearl earring). What I'm trying to say is the reproductions are good enough to do artistic studies from and the text is informative without being pretentious. I didn't know that only 35 of his paintings still survive today (all reproduced here), that he used a camera obscura to get the angles right, he had 11 kids and ran a pub. His studio was on the second floor, above the drinking lounge. Nice to know one of the old masters had to struggle to fit his art into his life too.

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[RKanimalkingdom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rtc

[Marc Buelens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lekker leesbaar; mooi en verantwoord evenwicht tussen de schaarse feiten die gekend zijn en het intellectuele giswerk van de experts

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is actually for the Spouse, who likes Vermeer more than me, but I've really enjoyed it too.