Essential Vermeer Website Addition
Vermeer-Related Artworks
November 29, 2016
Click here to access.
Click on the thumbnails or the titles of the paintings to access the relative works page for that work.
Click on the thumbnail images to access a higher resolution image.
Rather than attempting to establish direct links between Vermeer and specific artworks of his time, the goal of this web article is to trace the evolution of both the themes and compositions which can be associated with each painting by Vermeer, before and after it was presumably executed. Therefore not only works traditionally linked to Vermeer's paintings are listed but a broad range of artworks which a range from Classical times to the twentieth century.
Hopefully, this approach will provide useful information not only for the seasoned art historian but for a wider readership. Some of the pictures, like Vermeer's Woman with a Lute, unravel like a film, exhibiting relatively few compositional inventions but many symbolic variations.
Classic Vermeer Monograph Reissued by Phaidon
Vermeer
Ludwig Goldscheider
April 11, 2016
https://amzn.to/3Pma85g
Phaidon Press celebrates one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age with a luxurious, large-format image book originally published in 1958. This sumptuously produced volume features full-color reproductions of all 36 surviving works by the artist, along with numerous details that reveal the exquisite complexity of his paintings.
An updated essay for the 1958 edition by Ludwig Goldscheider, co-founder of Phaidon Press, is accompanied by a new preface from Dutch painting specialist Wayne Franits, putting Vermeer into a contemporary context. Elegant design, fine papers and tipped-on image plates make this a true collector's edition. 120 color illustrations
Vermeer's Girl with a Wine Glass Returns to Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum in Brunswick
Johannes Vermeer's Girl with the Wine Glass at the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum in Brunswick will back to its place in the museum, which will reopen on 23 October, 2016, after seven years renovation.
Due to renovation was the Herzog-Anton Ulrich Museum closed for years in Brunswick, Lower Saxony. Some of the masterpieces from the collection, including Vermeer's Girl with a Wine Glass were housed in a gallery of the Danwarderode castle in the same city.
Frans Grijzenhout Proposes New Location of Vermeer's Little Street.
Vermeer's The Little Street: A More Credible Detective Story
Philip Steadman
delft/little-street-steadman/little-street-steadman.html
Frans Grijzenhout has recently proposed that Vermeer's The Little Street shows houses at 40 and 42 Vlamingstraat in Delft. His theory is the subject of a current exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Philip Steadman, author of Vermeer's Camera, argues the case for an alternative location on the Voldersgracht. Steadman's case is supported with contemporary maps, drawings and a nineteenth-century photograph.
Click here to read Steadman's illustrated article.
New Vermeer Monograph
Vermeer: The Complete Works
Karl Schütz
December 5, 2015
From the Taschen website:
The Dutch Republic in the seventeenth century was home to one of the greatest flowerings of painting in the history of Western art. Freed from the constraints of royal and church patronage, artists created a rich outpouring of works that circulated through an open market to patrons and customers at every level of Dutch society. The closely observed details of daily life captured in portraits, genre scenes and landscapes offer a wealth of information about the possessions, activities and circumstances that distinguished members of the social classes, from the nobility to the urban poor. The dazzling array of paintings gathered here—by artists such as Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Pieter de Hooch and Gerrit ter Borch, as well as Rembrandt and Vermeer—illuminated by essays from leading scholars, invites us to explore a vibrant early modern society and its reflection in a golden age of brilliant painting.
This XL edition brings together the complete catalog of Vermeer's work, presenting the calm yet compelling scenes so treasured in galleries across Europe and the United States into one monograph of utmost reproduction quality. With brand new photography of many works, Vermeer's restrained but richly evocative repertoire of domestic actions—ranging from letter writing to music making to preparations in the kitchen—unfolds in a generous format, including three fold-out spreads. Numerous details emphasize the artist's remarkable ability not only to bear witness to the trends and trimmings of the Dutch Golden Age but also to encapsulate an entire story in just one transient gesture, expression, or look.
Also available at: amazon.com
Vermeer's Woman Playing a Lute T ravels to Naples
Woman Playing a Lute
Naples, Pinacoteca di Capodimonte
November 21 –February 9, 2016
Vermeer's Woman with a Lute will be on exhibition at the Pinacoteca di Capodimonte in Naples. To highlight the artistic relationships between the Netherlands and Italy in the seventeenth century various works from the museum's collection of analogous subject matter will be shown. These include three representations of Santa Cecilia, the patron of musicians, by the Italian painters Bernardo Cavallino, Carlo Sellitto and Francesco Guarino.
British Queen Lends Twenty-Two Paintings to the Mauritius Iincluding Vermeer's Music Lesson
At Home in Holland: Vermeer and his Contemporaries from the British Royal Collection
Mauritsius, The Hague
September 29, 2016– January 8, 2017
https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/press/
From Mauritshuis press release:
From 29 September, 2016 to 8 January, 2017 the Mauritshuis in The Hague will exhibit a selection of the most important Dutch genre paintings from the British Royal Collection. The star of the exhibition is The Music Lesson by Vermeer.
The exhibition covers a broad selection of the best Dutch genre paintings from the Royal Collection. It includes 22 paintings from the British Royal Collection and one from the collection of the Mauritshuis, The Young Mother by Gerrit Dou. This painting was part of the British Royal Collection until about 1700, and came into Dutch ownership through King and Stadholder William III. Other than Vermeer's Music Lesson' and Jan Steen's A Woman at her Toilet, the exhibition also featured are significant works by other grand masters of Dutch genre painting, such as Gerrit ter Borch, Gerrit Dou, Pieter de Hooch, Willem van Mieris and Gabriël Metsu.
Timed tickets:
Especially
for this exhibition the Mauritshuis is offering timed tickets to the
visitors to have the opportunity to reserve a ticket at a specific time.
Visitors
have direct access to the exhibition at a specific time every day from 3
p.m. onwards by purchasing a time slot (at € 2.50) in combination with a
ticket. The exhibition is open to all visitors without a timed ticket at
any time during the day.
Catalogue:
The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue in both English and Dutch, published by Royal Collection Trust, the Mauritshuis and Mercatorfonds. The catalogue was written by the exhibition's curators, Desmond Shawe-Taylor (Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, Royal Collection Trust) and Quentin Buvelot (Senior Curator at the Mauritshuis). Masters of the Everyday: Dutch Artists in the Age of Vermeer is currently available in the shop at the Mauritshuis.
Masters of the Everyday: Dutch Artists in the Age of Vermeer
ISBN 978 94 6230 104 7
(price: €29,95)
Vermeer en zijn tijdgenoten: Hollandse genrestukken uit de Royal Collection
ISBN 978-94-6230-102-3
Sponsors:
The exhibition is made possible with the support of ABN AMRO, the Friends of the Mauritshuis Foundation and the Dutch Masters Foundation.
Contact:
Natalie Bos, Mauritshuis
+31 (0)70 302 3438 / +31 (0)6 1444 8460
Award-Winning Exhibition of Vermeer's Contemporary, Caesar van Everdingen
Painting Beauty - Caesar van Everdingen (1616/1617–1678)
Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar, Alkmaar
September 24, 2016– January 26, 2017
https://stedelijkmuseumalkmaar.nl/
Perhaps not all Vermeer devotees are familiar with the work of the Dutch history painter Cesar van
Everdingen, but it is likely that Vermeer was very much so. Although it has not survived, art historians, believe that the large-scale painting of Cupid that once appeared four of Vermeer's interiors was probably by his hand (a Cupid was listed among the personal art collection of Maria Thins Vermeer's mother-in-law). Certainly, Van Everdingen's exceptional technique could not have been lost on Vermeer and perhaps works of such exquisite intimacy and formal perfection, A Young Woman Warming her Hands over a Brazier: Allegory of Winter, struck a particularly sympathetic chord with the Delft master.
After four hundred years after his birth Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar presents the first monographic exhibition of Van Everdingen, whose "flattering brush" allowed him to capture on canvas the softness of velvet, the sleekness of fur and the sheen of fabrics in his impressive history paintings and civic guard portraits. The exhibition brings together works by Van Everdingen from Dutch and foreign museums and private collections to Alkmaar as well as the Rijksmuseum's recently purchased Young Woman in a Broad-Brimmed Hat. Other keys works will be lent by museums in Dresden and Stockholm especially for this occasion. Venus from The Hague will be reunited with Adonis from Cape Town. A recently discovered painting of a sensual peasant woman from a Russian private collection will also be on display.
The museum has won the prestigious Dutch Turing Award II for the exhibition concept.
Exhibition catalogue (available in Dutch and English):
Christi
M. Klinkert and Yvonne Bleyerveld (eds.), Caesar van Everdingen
(1616/1617–1678): Painting Beauty, exh. cat. Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar, Alkmaar/Zwolle (Waanders Uitgevers) 2016
Vermeer's A Lady Writing Visits Chrysler Museum for a Limited Engagement
A Lady Writing
Chrysler Museum, Norfolk
November 1–December 18, 2016
http://www.chrysler.org/exhibitions/johannes-vermeer/
From the museum website:
For a limited six-week engagement Vermeer's A Lady Writing will be on display at the Chrysler Museum of Art. It is being lent to the Chrysler by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. "The beguiling expression of the young lady is the result of Vermeer's meticulous care in composition and pose," says Lloyd DeWitt, the Chrysler Museum's Chief Curator and Irene Leache Curator of European Art. "Adorned in the fashionable style of the day—hair ribbons, pear-drop pearl earrings, and a fur-trimmed jacket—she meets our gaze with a slight smile while writing a letter" he says. "The nib of her quill pen is still on the paper."
The painting will be on view in Gallery 202 of the Dalis Foundation Galleries.
Admission: free.
Related programs:
Special Vermeer Lecture
by Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr.
Sunday, November 20 | 2 p.m. | Kaufman Theater | Free
Revel in the beauty of Johannes Vermeer's A Lady Writing, one of only 35 works by the venerable seventeenth-century Dutch painter. Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., Curator of Northern Baroque Paintings at the National Gallery of Art, guides you through the old master's work in this very special Kaufman Theater lecture. Seating is limited.
Vermeer Gallery Talk:
by Chief Curator Lloyd DeWitt
Thursday, December 8 | 2 p.m. | free
Look deeper into the subjects and the psyches in Johannes Vermeer's paintings in this very special gallery talk by our resident expert in seventeenth-century Dutch art, Lloyd DeWitt. Meet at the Welcome Desk in Huber Court.
Vermeer-Related Installation at the MONA, Hobart, Australia
Hound in the Hunt
Museum of Old and New Art
Hobart, Australia
Beginning July 2, 2016
https://mona.net.au/stuff-to-do/art/hound-in-the-hunt
Did Vermeer use the comparator mirror to paint?
The Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Australia is currently staging an installation which explores the presumed use of optical devices by various seventeenth-century painters in order to reach the astonishing illusionist qualities their works.
The exhibition centers around a simple optical device invented by the American businessman Tim Jension, called the comparator mirror, which Jenison claims may have allowed these painters to copy the forms, colors and tones of nature directly to their canvases, bypassing traditional methods (see Tim's Vermeer, 2013).
In a series of innovative experiments 10 contemporary painters will test various applications of the Jenison's comparator mirror to recreate such works as Vermeer's Girl with Red Hat, Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus and a still-life by Willem Claesz. Heda's from reconstructed settings and live models, all of which on public view.
Jonathan Janson, painter and author of the Essential Vermeer website, will paint two versions of Vermeer's A Lady Standing at a Virginal from a full scale mock-up of the picture's scene. The first will be executed using traditional painting procedures and with the aid of a booth- type camera obscura (as proposed by Philip Steadman), and the second using Jension's comparator mirror. It is hoped that by comparing the finished works executed within a controlled experimental conditions light may be shed light on to what extent Vermeer might have employed optical devices in his work.
The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue that presents two contrasting essays. In the first, Jension explains his innovative hypothesis via a lively, first-person discovery trip while in the second Janson attempts to illustrate how Vermeer worked with a camera obscura while remaining largely within the bounds of traditional studio procedures. Janson also makes some considerations on Vermeer's peculiar brand of realism with a few comments on Jenison's device.
Catalogue:
http://shop.mona.net.au/auxiliary/Reserve.aspx?p=16123
Museum address and opening hours:
Museum of Old and New Art
655 Main Road Berriedale
Hobart Tasmania 7011, Australia
Opening hours:
Wed.–Mon.
10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Open every day in January
Contact:
+61 (3) 6277 9900
info@mona.net.au
Collateral event:
In conjunction with our Hound in the Hunt gallery experiments, Cinemona presents Tim's Vermeer, the feature documentary that introduced most of us to Tim Jenison. Once described as the "'ultimate geek documentary,"' the film pays patient, passionate attention to Jenison's investigative processes, their technical details and the delights of discovery. You may or may not be convinced by Tim's premise—that Vermeer was aided by novel optical instruments—but you will want him to succeed in his ultimate goal of painting a Vermeer himself.
Tickets: Free with museum entry
Opening hours:
2 p.m. every Sat., Mon., Thur. until 21 July, then 24, 25, 27 July
11.30 a.m. every Sun., Wed., Fri., until 22 July, then 28 July–1 August
Cinemona will also screen The Hound Pack, a selection of short films detailing Jenison's investigations, from 10.30 a.m. Wednesday–Monday. Details at the venue, or on the O.
USA | 2013 | 80 min.
A Penn and Teller Film
Produced by Penn Jillette
Directed by Teller
Consumer advice: infrequent coarse language
Vermeer's Geographer Visits the Hermitage
Johannes Vermeer: The Geographer. From the Städelsches Kunstinstitut (Frankfurt am Main)
Masterpieces from the World's Museums in the Hermitage
Hermitage, St. Petersburg (Main Museum Complex, Hall of the School of Rembrandt\)
August 27–November 20, 2016
https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/what-s-on?lng=ru
After The Love Letter in 2010, Vermeer's Geographer will be on temporary loan at the Hermitage.
From Hermitage press release:
When speaking of the history of Vermeer's remarkable picture, which over the course of the centuries changed hands on multiple occasions and spent time in several European countries, mention must be made of one intriguing, albeit brief "Russian" episode. The memory of it is preserved by an oval stamp inscribed "GALERIE DE SAN DONATO" on the back of the canvas, and a half-erased mark made with sealing-wax on the stretcher. Also attached to the back of the painting is a sheet of paper carrying a detailed list of the collections through which it passed between 1713 and 1872. Around 1877, The Geographer was bought in Paris by the Russian businessman and art patron Pavel Pavlovich Demidov (1839–1885). After inheriting the famous Villa San Donato outside Florence from his uncle, he settled in Italy. There the connoisseur enlarged through his own purchases the art collections assembled by several generations of Demidovs. Soon, though, as early as 1880, Pavel Pavlovich decided to sell the villa and its treasures and to move to a new estate, Pratolino. On 15 March, 1880, a tremendous auction began at San Donato that went on for several days. The Vermeer was Lot 1124 in the auction catalogue.
Curator:
The exhibition has been curated by Irina Alexeyevna Sokolova, Doctor of Culturology, Keeper of Dutch Painting and Chief Researcher in the Department of Western European Art. Sokolova is the author of The Russian Passion for Dutch Painting of the Golden Age. The
Collection of Pyotr Semenov and the Art Market in St Petersburg,
1860–1910 comes out in the Netherlands (2015)
Catalogue:
A scholarly publication in Russian only, Johannes Vermeer: The Geographer (State Hermitage Publishing House, 2016) has been produced for the exhibition. The text is by Irina Sokolova.
Young Woman Seated at a Virginal Travels to Dallas
Vermeer Suite: Music in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting
Dallas Museum of Art
January 17–August 21, 2016
https://www.dma.org/press-release/johannes-vermeer-s-young-woman-seated-virginal-go-view-new-dallas-museum-art
From the museum website:
The Dallas Museum of Art presents Vermeer Suite: Music in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting, an exhibition organized by the DMA showcasing paintings from the prestigious Leiden Collection of New York, including a work by Johannes Vermeer. The great seventeenth-century Dutch painter created fewer than forty paintings during his lifetime, and Young Woman Seated at a Virginal from 1670–72 is believed to be one of Vermeer's last. This masterpiece is the inspiration for the DMA exhibition Vermeer Suite: Music in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Painting, which includes seven additional loans from The Leiden Collection of works by Vermeer's contemporaries—artists Jan Steen, Gerrit ter Borch, Jacob Adriaensz Ochtervelt, Eglon van der Neer, Gerard Dou, and Frans van Mieris—whose paintings also portray musicians performing period instruments such as the lute, violin and violincello and demonstrate key aspects of seventeenth-century musical culture.
Entrance: free of charge
Two Louvre Vermeers Not on Display
The Northern European rooms of the Louvre are currently under renovation until February 17, 2017, so neither of the museum's Vermeer, The Astronomer and The Lacemaker, are on display.
As of yet, the Louvre has not been announced where or when either of the pictures will be available for public viewing.
Vermeer's Little Street Returns to Delft
Vermeer is Coming Home
Museum Prinsenhof Delft
March 25–July 17, 2016
http://prinsenhof-delft.nl/en/
From the museum website:
The Little Street returns to Delft describes the long search to identify the place that inspired Vermeer to paint his masterpiece. It deals with a number of theories (see alternative proposal by Philip Steadman), but specifically explains recent research by professor Frans Grijzenhout into the location of The Little Street.
The exhibition is accompanied by a programme full of activities in the city center of Delft and in Museum Prinsenhof Delft.
Interactive city tour - (App)
The exhibition is accompanied by a smartphone and tablet app that takes visitors independently past some twenty locations that have a link with Vermeer's life and work. They are all in the immediate vicinity of Museum Prinsenhof Delft. The 'Where is Vermeer?' app is suitable for iOS and Android and can be downloaded for free of charge after the opening.
Escape room Vermeer's Workshop
In an escape room designed especially for the exhibition, small groups of visitors visit Vermeer's studio. They then need to try and exit the room in a short period of time by solving puzzles and riddles.
Master Class Vermeer in pieces (Dutch)
The archives of Delft contain various historical documents that can provide a better picture of the mysterious Johannes Vermeer. The Public Archivist takes a close look at these documents together with participants on 22 April and 24 June. For more information or to sign up, send an e-mail.
Guided tour
Every other week there is a brief guided tour on Sunday afternoons where visitors obtain an overall view of The Little Street exhibition.
Opera Writing to Vermeer
On 9 en 10 July a film of the opera 'Writing to Vermeer' (1999) by Louis Andriessen will be shown in de Van der Mandelezaal of Museum Prinsenhof Delft. Theme of the opera: the women around Vermeer and the letters they wrote to him. Filmmaker Andriessen provides the audience with an explanation and Marije van Stralen (soprano) en Bas de Vroome (harpsichord) perform parts of the opera live on stage.
City programme
In the city center, Delft's entrepreneurs and other cultural institutions organize lots of activities around Vermeer and The Little Street.
Opening hours:
Mondays to Sundays - 11.00–17.00 hours.
Vermeer-Related Publication (Spanish)
El luthier de Delft (Spanish)
Ramón Andrés
2015
https://www.acantilado.es/catalogo/el-luthier-de-delft/
From the publisher's website:
El luthier de Delft es una obra que analiza la música (aunque también el arte y la ciencia) del siglo XVII, especialmente centrada en la cultura neerlandesa. El libro gira en torno a tres personajes centrales, el pintor Jan Vermeer, el filósofo Baruch Spinoza y el músico Jan Pietrszoon Sweelinck. A partir de ellos, el lector se encontrará con la construcción de instrumentos musicales, sus maderas y barnices, así como con el papel de la mujer en el arte y la música; la vida de los pintores y el mundo simbólico de sus obras y los estudios científicos destinados a la óptica y la difusión del telescopio. Un libro lleno de resonancias y armonías, sabiduría y sutileza.
(The luthier of Delft is a work that analyzes the music (but also art and science) of the seventeenth century, especially focusing on Dutch culture. The book revolves around three central characters, the painter Johannes Vermeer, the philosopher Baruch Spinoza and musician Jan Sweelinck Pietrszoon. From them, the reader will discover the construction of musical instruments, their woods and varnishes, as well as the role of women in art and music; the lives of the painters and the symbolic world of his works and scientific studies for the optical telescope and dissemination. A book full of resonances and harmonies, wisdom and subtlety.)
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Vermeer's A Lady Writing Travels to Kansas City
Reflecting Class in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
February 24–May 29, 2016
https://nelson-atkins.org/art/exhibitions/
From the museum website:
This groundbreaking exhibition examines seventeenth-century Dutch paintings in light of the new Republic's social structure. Although the Dutch Republic was relatively democratic at the time, class distinctions remained and conveyed a variety of meanings to its citizens.
Through approximately 71 carefully selected and arranged paintings, this exhibition will present the ways in which Dutch pictures reflect various socio-economic groups. Additionally, three place settings featuring the everyday tableware of the upper, middle and lower classes will bring to life the tangible differences within the Republic's stratified population.
By exploring how class distinctions were expressed and the associations each group held, a more nuanced picture of Dutch society will emerge. Highlights of the exhibition include Vermeer's A Lady Writing and portraits by Rembrandt and Hals.
This exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Admission prices:
Members and children under 12: Free | adults: $12 | seniors over 55: $10 | students with ID: $6
Exhibition Programs
Presentations:
Reflecting On…
6–7 p.m. | Atkins Auditorium
Tickets required
February 25 | Reflecting On the Power of Dutch Maps and Landscapes
March 31 | Reflecting On 17th- and 18th- Century Dutch Design in the Global Marketplace
April 28 | Reflecting On 17th-Century Dutch Influence in American Scenes of Everyday Life
May 26 | Reflecting On Poverty in Early 20th-Century American Photography
Four curators reflect on themes presented in the exhibition, including the importance and legacy of seventeenth-century Dutch painting and depictions of the social classes in art. Works from across art-historical periods and museum collections will be discussed.
Rank and Status in the Dutch Golden Age
Thursday, March 24
6–7 p.m. | Atkins Auditorium
Tickets required
Join exhibition curator Ronni Baer, William and Ann Elfers Senior Curator of Paintings, Art of Europe, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, for a lecture that encourages close looking at portraits, genre scenes, landscapes and seascapes to discover clues to the social standing of the people depicted and the workings of the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic.
Performance
Musical Distinctions Inspired by Rembrandt & Vermeer
Friday, March 18
6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m. | Atkins Auditorium
Tickets required
Distinguished faculty and students from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance and The Sacred Arts Chorale from Central Theological Society present a program of popular Baroque music from the 1600s.
Talks
Crossfire Talks: The Social Classes in Dutch Art
Sundays, 2 p.m. | Exhibition Galleries
Exhibition ticket required
March 20 | The Upper Classes in Dutch Art
April 17 | The Middle Classes in Dutch Art
May 15 | The Lower Classes in Dutch Art
Three short talks explore class distinctions expressed in Dutch paintings and table settings featured in the exhibition. Join Catherine Futter, Director of Curatorial Affairs, and Rima Girnius, Associate Curator of European Painting and Sculpture, and return for all three talks.
Exhibition Tours
February 24–May 29
Exhibition ticket required.
Docent-led tours 1 p.m. Wed.–Fri. | No reservations required.
Vermeer's Young Woman with a Water Pitcher on Tour in Japan
Vermeer and Rembrandt: the Masters of the 17th-Century Dutch Golden Age
6-10-1 Roppongi | 52 fields Mori Tower Roppongi Hills, Minato 106-6151, Tokyo Prefecture
February–March 31, 2016
http://www.tbs.co.jp/vermeer2016/#info1
From exhibition web page:
The Dutch Golden Age of Dutch history spanned the seventeenth century, and it was during this period that the Netherlands underwent great development. In the field of painting, a great many excellent painters produced numerous splendid masterpieces. They include well-known painters such as the painter of light, Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) from Delft, as well as Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669) famed in Amsterdam, and then more widely for his unique ideas, techniques and composition. Their paintings remain still colorful and vivid even after 400 years, leaving the viewer with a powerful impression.
This exhibition introduces the Dutch Golden Age and painters of the era through around 60 artworks. The highlights include Young Woman with a Water Pitcher by Vermeer and Bellona by Rembrandt; both presented to the public for the first time in Japan.
Venue two:
Fukushima Prefectural Museum
Fukushima City
April 6–May 8, 2016
Catalogue:
Authors: Giltaij, Jeroen (editor); Wieseman, Betsy (texts); Dibbits, Taco (texts); Wheelock,
Arthur K. (jr.) (texts); Ozaki, Masato (texts)
Publisher: Tokyo: Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, 2015
Review:
"Dutch painters cut from the same canvas"
by C.B. Liddell
The Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2016/02/09/arts/dutch-painters-cut-canvas/#.Vrnl-VKPbCl
ExactLocation of Vermeer's Little Street Finally Discovered?
From:
"Mystery of world-famous Vermeer setting finally solved"
Janene Pieters,
November 19, 2015
NLTIMES.NL
The century-old mystery of the exact location of Johannes Vermeer's painting Little Street, has finally been solved. The setting for the world-famous painting is on Vlamingstraat in Delft, where houses 40–-42 now stand.
This extraordinary revelation was made by Dr. Frans Grijzenhout, professor of Art History at the University of Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum announced on Thursday.
Grijzenhout searched seventeenth-century records in the Delft archives and found the conclusive answer in The file of the deep waters within the city of Delft from 1667, also called the Register of the quayside fee. This register kept record of how much tax everyone who owned a house on a canal in Delft had to pay for the deepening of the canal and for maintenance of the wharf in front of his door. It contains detailed, accurate up to 15 cm., information on the breath of all the houses and ports on the Delft canals in Vermeer's time.
The two houses that then stood on Vlamingstraat where numbers 40–42 are now located, completely correspond with the Little Street. No other houses from Vermeer's time correspond so exactly.
The research also revealed that Vermeer's aunt—the widow Ariaentgen Claes van der Minne, Vermeer's father's half-sister—lived in the house on the right side of the painting. Vermeer's mother and sister lived on the same canal, diagonally across the street. According to the Rijksmuseum, it is therefore likely that Vermeer knew the house well and had personal memories linked to it.
"The answer to the question of where Vermeer's Little Street is located, is of great significance and will have profound consequences, both for the way we look at this one painting by Vermeer as well as for the image we have of Vermeer as an artist," said Pieter Roelofs, curator of seventeenth-century paintings at the Rijksmuseum.
To celebrate the Little Street's address being found, the Rijksmuseum is dedicating an exhibition to the discovery. The exhibition will be in the Rijksmuseum between November 20th of this year and March 13th, 2016.
See also:
Rijksmuseum presentation:
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/vermeers-the-little-street-discovered:
Rijksmuseum Press Release:
(high-resolution images of Vermeer's Little Street and Vlamingstraat, Delft)
https://www.codart.nl/our-events/codart-25/documents-videos/frans-grijzenhout/
Martin Bailey, "Exact location of Vermeer's Little Street discovered"
The Art Newspaper, November 20, 2015
http://theartnewspaper.com/news/exact-location-of-vermeer-s-little-street-discovered/
Brian Boucher, "Has the Site of Johannes Vermeer's 'Little Street' Been Identified?"
Art News, Monday, November 23, 2015
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/vermeer-little-street-identified-370025
Google Art Project presentation:
https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/exhibit/sgLy5pT_lFc9IQ?projectId=art-project&position=0%3A0
A special exhibition about the newly found location of Vermeer's Little Street will be held in two venues:
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
20 November, 2015–13 March, 2016
Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof, Delft
25 March-17 July, 2016
Patrick van Mil, Director of Museum Prinsenhof Delft, says "This offers the opportunity to put Delft on the map as the Vermeer City. With new routes through the city, a special virtual reality App, Vermeer packages etc. We bring the Vermeer of Delft for the visitors to life. To achieve this we are looking for cooperation with various parties such as the Oude Kerk, the Vermeer Centre, TU Delft, Delft Marketing and business. Together we can develop an attractive program whereby Delft would again be dominated by Johannes Vermeer and 'The Little Street', Delft, Vermeer and Vermeer's Delft!"
Early Vermeer(?) Exhibited in Tokyo
National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
From March 17, 2015
http://www.nmwa.go.jp/en/information/whats-new.html#news20150313
The Saint Praxedis, which is believed by some scholars to be an authentic early work by Vermeer will be on public display for the first time since it was auctioned by Christie's on July 8, 2014 for $10,687,160 (£6,242,500). The painting, exhibited as "attributed to Vermeer," in the Permanent Collection Galleries (Main Building, 2nd Floor).
Vermeer-Related Publication
Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing
by Laura J. Snyder
March 16, 2015
From the publisher's
website:
In Eye of the Beholder, Laura J. Snyder transports us to the streets, inns and guildhalls of seventeenth-century Holland, where artists and scientists gathered, and to their studios and laboratories, where they mixed paints and prepared canvases, ground and polished lenses, examined and dissected insects and other animals, and invented the modern notion of seeing. With charm and narrative flair Snyder brings Vermeer and Van Leeuwenhoek—and the men and women around them—vividly to life. The story of these two geniuses and the transformation they engendered shows us why we see the world—and our place within it—as we do today.
Also available at amazon.com
Reviews:
"Rich and Rewarding"—Graeme Wood, The American Scholar
http://laurajsnyder.com/2015/03/rich-and-rewarding-graeme-wood-the-american-scholar/
"It is clear that Snyder is out of her depth in much of the perspective and optics that she discusses. She gives a rather abbreviated account of the experiments made with cameras by art historians and fails to pinpoint properly what exactly it was that led them and numerous others to suspect Vermeer of using the camera in the first place. She rejects out of hand my own theoretical and experimental work. And she makes no mention of Tim Jenison's very remarkable experiment, which proves beyond doubt the feasibility of painting in color and in meticulous minute detail with a camera obscura. Indeed all the exciting work that has been happening on these questions over the last fifteen years is absent from Snyder's account. This is work in progress, there are many matters of debate and uncertainty, and much remains to be investigated and discovered. But what an opportunity has been missed here!" Philip Steadman (author of Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth behind the Masterpieces, 2001) Amazon Customer Review
http://www.amazon.com/review/R22326DX82NKS5
"Laura Snyder is both a masterly scholar and a powerful storyteller. In Eye of the Beholder, she transports us to the wonder-age of seventeenth-century Holland, as new discoveries in optics were shaping the two great geniuses of Delft—Vermeer and van Leeuwenhoek—and changing the course of art and science forever. A fabulous book."
—Oliver Sacks
—Jonathan Lopez, The Wall Street Journal Online
http://www.wsj.com/articles/book-review-eye-of-the-beholder-by-laura-j-snyder-1427487412
"Eye of the Beholder is a thoughtful elaboration of the modern notion of seeing. Laura J. Snyder delves into the seventeenth century fascination with the tools of art and science, and shows how they came together to help us make sense of what is right in front of our eyes."
— Russell Shorto, author of Amsterdam:
A History of the World's Most
Liberal City
Vermeer's Music Lesson Exhibited in London, Edinburgh and Netherlands
Venue one:
Masters of the Everyday: Dutch Artists in the Age of Vermeer. An exhibition from the British Royal Collection
The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace
November 13, 2015–February 14,
2016
https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/exhibitions/qgbp/masters-of-the-everyday-dutch-artists-in-the-age-of-vermeer
All information below from
the Royal Collection website:
The Dutch artists of the seventeenth century painted ordinary people doing everyday things. They offer us a glimpse into the rambunctious life of village taverns and peasant cottages, and the quiet domesticity of courtyards and parlors. While the subject-matter may be ordinary—the preparation of food, eating and drinking, the enjoyment of music or a family game—the painting is rich and jewel-like, with equal attention paid to a discarded clay pipe as to a fine silk drape. The meticulously documented details often allude to a work's deeper meaning or to moral messages that would have been familiar to the contemporary viewer.
Presenting 27 masterpieces from the Royal Collection, the exhibition includes works by Gerrit Dou, Gabriel Metsu, Jan Steen and Pieter de Hooch, and Johannes Vermeer's Music Lesson (A Lady at a Virginal with a Gentleman).
Opening hours :
opens daily, 10:00–17:30
last admission 16:15
Admission prices:
adult £10.00 | concessions £9.20 | under 17/disabled £5.20 ! under 5 free
For more details please see Royal Collection ticket pages.
Related Activities
Exhibition Talk for groups - Masters of the Everyday
November 12, 2015–February, 2016
To enhance your group visit to Masters of the Everyday: Dutch Artists in the Age of Vermeer, book an exclusive introductory talk by a Royal Collection Trust expert in the Gallery's Redgrave Room. After your 30-minute talk in English, your group is free to enjoy the exhibition at leisure using a complimentary audio tour. Please note Exhibition Talks are for pre-booked groups only.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes–2 hours
Time: 11:00
Price: adult £18.80 | over 60/student (with valid ID) £16.90 | under 17/disabled £9.30
Minimum: 25
Maximum: 80
Location: The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace
Essential information: Exhibition Talks can be booked on Tuesday and Thursday at 11:00.
Private Evening View for groups - Masters of the Everyday
November 16, 2015–February 11, 2016
Private Evening Views can be arranged for groups to explore Masters of the Everyday: Dutch Artists in the Age of Vermeer at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace. This exclusive after-hours event offers groups the opportunity to enjoy the exhibition without the crowds. The evening concludes with a glass of wine served in the Gallery Shop. Groups may bring their own guide to interpret the exhibitions or simply explore them at leisure. Price includes a Private Evening View and a glass of wine in the Gallery Shop.
Please be aware, Private Evening Views are only available for pre-booked groups.
Duration: 1 hour
Time: 18:30–19:30
Price: £35.00 per person
Minimum number: 50 or booking value £1,750.
Maximum number: 150.
Location: The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace
Essential information: Private Evening Views can be booked on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 18:30 during exhibitions. Please be aware the £2.00 Telephone booking transaction fee is not payable on this group visit.
Contact: +44 (0)20 7766 7321
Catalogue
Masters of the Everyday: Dutch Artists in the Age of Vermeer
Desmond Shawe-Taylor and Quentin Buvelot
Hardback, 176 pages, 289 x 233 mm, over 150 color illustrations
During the seventeenth century, Dutch artists were unparalleled in their dedication to depicting ordinary people doing everyday things. Genre painting was the pre-eminent expression of this dedication, offering candid glimpses into the peasant cottages and village courtyards of the Dutch Golden Age, each painting lit with the period's vibrant color palette and rich with radiant natural light.
This superb collection focuses on a selection of works of Dutch genre painting from the Royal Collection's holdings. Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen, Gerrit Dou, Gabriel Metsu, and Pieter de Hooch are among the masters whose works are finely reproduced here. While the subject matter may be ordinary—the preparation of food, the bustle of a busy market, the enjoyment of taverns and town festivities—the meticulously documented details often allude to a work's deeper meaning, that would have been familiar to the contemporary viewer.
The book explores these hidden moral messages, as well as the artist's penchant for clever visual puns.
Also available at amazon.com
Desmond Shawe-Taylor is Surveyor of The Queen's Pictures, Royal Collection Trust. His previous publications include Dutch Landscapes (2010) and most recently The First Georgians: Art & Monarchy 1714–1760 (2014).
Quentin Buvelot is Senior Curator at the Mauritshuis. His recent publications include Dutch Portraits: The Age of Rembrandt and Frans Hals (2007) and Jacob van Ruisdael Paints Bentheim (2009).
Venue two:
Edinburgh The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse
March 4–July 24, 2016
Venue three:
The Mauritshuis, The Hague
September 29, 2016–January 8
2017
Vermeer-Related Publication Makes National Book Awards Longlist
Travels in Vermeer: A Memoir
Michael White
https://amzn.to/4gy3MvD
Michael Whites's Travels in Vermeer: A Memoir made the National Book Awards longlist for Nonfiction. Finalists will be announced on October 14th, and winners will be announced at a ceremony in New York on November 18th.
From publisher's website:
A lyrical and intimate account of how a poet, in the midst of a bad divorce, finds consolation and grace through viewing the paintings of Vermeer, in six world cities. In the midst of a divorce (in which the custody of his young daughter is at stake) and over the course of a year, the poet Michael White, travels to Amsterdam, The Hague, Delft, London, Washington and New York to view the paintings of Johannes Vermeer, an artist obsessed with romance and the inner life. He is astounded by how consoling it is to look closely at Vermeer's women, at the artist's relationship to his subjects, and at how composition reflects back to the viewer such deep feeling. Includes the author's very personal study of Vermeer. Through these travels and his encounters with Vermeer's radiant vision, White finds grace and personal transformation.
Reviews
"White brings [sensitivity] to his luminous readings of the paintings. An enchanting book about the transformative power of art."
—Kirkus Reviews)
"… Figures it took a poet to get it this beautifully, thrillingly right." - (
— Peter Trachtenberg
"A unique dance among genres...clear and powerful descriptions touch on the mysteries of seduction, loss and the artistic impulse."
— Clyde Edgerton
About the author:
Michael White is the author of four award-winning collections of poetry. He lives in Wilmington, North Carolina, and heads the creative writing department at UNC-Wilmington.
See also the companion volume, MIchael White's Vermeer in Hell, winner of Persea's Lexi Rudnitsky / Editor's Choice Award.
Original Trade Paperback / $17.95 (Can $20.95) / ISBN 978-0-89255-437-9 / 192 pages / Memoir, Literature, Art History
Vermeer's Christ in the House of Martha and Mary Goes to Australia
The Greats: Masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland
The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
October 24, 2015–February 14, 2016
http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/the-greats/
Vermeer's Christ in the House of Martha and Mary will form part of a touring exhibition of America and Australia and will return to the Scottish National Gallery in February of 2016.
Two Vermeer's Exhibited in Special Frankfurt Anniversary Exhibition
Masterworks in Dialogue. Eminent Guests for the Anniversary
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
October 7, 2015–January 24, 2016
http://www.staedelmuseum.de/en/exhibitions/masterworks-dialogue
From the museum website:
The Städel collection looks forward to welcoming a number of international visitors on the occasion of its bicentennial. A show that has been conceived by all the Städel's curators together will confront key works of the institution's own holdings with masterpieces from the most renowned museums over the world.
The approximately 40 encounters of important anniversary guests with works from the Städel's collection will not only yield insights into exciting and sometimes surprising art-historical and historical connections but also unfold a background for reassessing the Städel's own holdings.
Among the paintings exhibited will be Vermeer's Geographer and Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid will be exhibited.
Vermeer-related exhibition in Boston
Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer
Museum of Fine Art, Boston
Ann and Graham Gund Gallery (Gallery LG31)
October 11, 2015–January 18, 2016
http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/class-distinctions
From the CODART website:
Organized by the MFA, this groundbreaking exhibition proposes a new approach to the understanding of seventeenth-century Dutch painting. Included are 75 carefully selected and beautifully preserved portraits, genre scenes, landscapes and seascapes borrowed from European and American public and private collections—including masterpieces never before seen in the US. The show will reflect, for the first time, the ways in which art signals the socioeconomic groups of the new Dutch Republic, from the Princes of Orange to the most indigent of citizens. Class distinctions had meaning and were expressed in the type of work depicted (or the lack thereof), the costumes, a figure's comportment and behavior, or his physical environment. Arranged according to seventeenth-century ideas about social stratification, paintings by artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Jan Steen, Pieter de Hooch, Gerrit ter Borch and Gabriel Metsu, will be divided into three classes—upper, middle and lower—and further sub-divided into eight categories. A final section will explore the places where the classes in Dutch society met one another. Additionally, 45 works of decorative arts—objects used by each class but diverging in material and decoration (for example, salt cellars, candlesticks, mustard pots, linens)—will be installed in three table settings to highlight material differences among the classes. The accompanying publication features essays by a team of distinguished Dutch scholars and exhibition curator Ronni Baer, the MFA's William and Ann Elfers Senior Curator of Paintings.
Tickets information:
To order tickets by phone, call 1-800-440-6975; to order in person, visit any MFA ticket desk. Tickets must be purchased prior to the start of the first session; individual sessions are not available.
Catalogue:
Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer
Ronni Baer, with essays by Henk van Nierop, Herman Roodenburg, Eric Jan Sluijter, Marieke de Winkel, and Sanny de Zoete
About the curator:
From Dutch Culture USA website:
A specialist in seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish art, Dr. Ronni Baer joined the MFA in 2000 as Senior Curator of Paintings in the Art of Europe Department. Prior to arriving in Boston, she held positions as curator, professor and researcher at numerous museums and higher learning institutions. Baer has overseen the installation of several European galleries in the Museum and was curator of the exhibitions El Greco to Velázquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III (2008), Rembrandt's Journey: Painter | Draftsman | Etcher (co-curated with Cliff Ackley, 2004) and The Poetry of Everyday Life: Dutch Painting in Boston (2002). She was also responsible for the traveling exhibitions, Still Life from the MFA, Boston: Tradition and Innovation (2011, Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts), Five Centuries of European Portraiture (2006, Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts) and Gerrit Dou (1613–1675): Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt' (2000), National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC).
Baer completed her Master's and Ph.D. in art history at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, following her undergraduate work in French literature at Emory University (Atlanta). Baer was awarded a Getty Research Institute Guest Museum Scholarship in 2013 and received the Encomienda de la Orden de Isabel la Católica from King Juan Carlos I of Spain in 2008. In addition to authoring the catalogues for the exhibitions above, she is author and editor of the catalogue for the upcoming exhibition, Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer.
Vermeer's Young Woman with a Water Pitcher on Tour
Vermeer and Painters of the Dutch Golden Age
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto
https://www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp/bunshi/kmma/en/2015fiscal_vermeer.html
October 24, 2015–January 5, 2016
From exhibition web page:
Seventeenth-century Holland's withdrawal from religious painting to an emphasis on the appreciation of the everyday opened up a new worldview. It was not only the images of women, wives and their husbands, it was also the mothers within the interior settings and the masters of the kitchens that were painted. Furthermore, it was the fashions that colored lives in feminine cultivation and religious practices that resulted in painted works. These were the opening acts of the "world theater" of women's entry onto the world stage. Vermeer's Young Woman with a Water Pitcher and Rembrandt's Verona are the highlights of this Japan premier.
Vermeer's Young Woman with a Water Pitcher will return in Spring 2016 to the Metropolitan after two other venues in Japan.
Vermeer's Woman in Blue Reading a Letter travels to Washington D.C.
Vermeer's Woman in Blue Reading a Letter from the Rijksmuseum
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
West Building, Main Floor - Gallery 50C
September 19–December 1, 2015
from the National Gallery of Art website:
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Gallery's history-making exhibition Johannes Vermeer (1995–1996), the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is lending one of its great treasures: Vermeer's Woman in Blue Reading a Letter.. Last seen in Washington in 1996, this luminous masterpiece has been recently restored and will hang in the Gallery's Dutch and Flemish Cabinet Galleries alongside other works by Vermeer in the permanent collection, including Girl with the Red Hat.
Related Activities
Lecture:
The Vermeer Phenomenon
November 15, 2:00–3:30 p.m.
East Building Auditorium
Maygene Daniels (chief of Gallery Archives), Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. (curator of northern baroque paintings), and Deborah Ziska (chief of press and public information) give a lecture about the Vermeer exhibition's origins, importance, popularity and impact.
Gallery talk:
Woman in Blue Reading a Letter by Johannes Vermeer
September 24–28, 30, 12:00 p.m.
October 8, 21–23, 27–29, 2:00 p.m.
West Building, Main Floor, Rotunda
Diane Arkin or Eric Denker (30 mins.)
Vermeer's Woman in Blue Reading a Letter travels to San Diego
The Private World of Vermeer
The Timken Museum, San Diego CA
May 14–September 11, 2015
The Timken Museum of Art will exhibit one of the finest works by Vermeer from May 14 through September 11, 2015. The exhibition, The Private World of Vermeer, showcases his masterpiece, Woman in Blue Reading a Letter. This generous loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam marks the first appearance of this remarkable painting in San Diego. The Timken's special installation allows visitors to have an intimate experience with Woman in Blue Reading a Letter and highlights one of the most celebrated painters of the Dutch Golden Age.
The four-month exhibition also features a variety of events, which include noted scholars on Vermeer. Many of the events are free to the public and are designed to give guests an enhanced understanding of the Vermeer and other masterpieces in the Timken's collection:
1. Guest Lecture
"Extraordinary Observation: Vermeer's Woman in Blue"
speaker: Anne Woollett (curator, department of paintings, J. Paul Getty Museum)
Monday, May 18 at 10 a.m.
admission: free
In its compositional refinement and visual impact, Woman in Blue Reading a Letter represents a turning point in Vermeer's career. This lecture considers Vermeer's signature approach—its rapid development in previous works, and the sophisticated handling of space and light in this work and the so-called "pearl pictures."
Anne Woollett is Curator of Paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los
Angeles. She specializes in northern European painting before 1800,
and is currently working on a catalogue of the Getty's Flemish Baroque
paintings.
2. Art in the Evening Lecture and Reception
speaker: Arthur K. Wheelock (curator of Northern Baroque painting, National Gallery of Art)
Wednesday, June 3
admission: $35 member / $45 non-member
Arthur K. Wheelock is the curator of Northern Baroque painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and author of the 1995 publication Vermeer and the Art of Painting. He is one of the most prolific writers on Vermeer and offers numerous insights linking painting techniques and artistry.
3. Guest Lecture
"Vermeer's Time: The Woman in Blue"
speaker: Ann Jensen Adams (professor, UC Santa Barbara)
Monday, June 8 at 10 a.m.
admission: free
Vermeer's paintings of figures engaged in quiet activities are masterpieces of silence. They have also been described as "stilled lives."This lecture discusses Vermeer's Woman in Blue Reading a Letter in relation to contemporaneous concerns about the passage of time, and its measurement.
Ann Jensen Adams is a professor and graduate advisor at UC Santa Barbara, department of the history of art and architecture. Her research includes seventeenth-century Dutch art, particularly portraiture, and the impact upon imagery of early modern developments in natural history.
4. Free Family Fun
"Tall Tales at the Timken"
Saturday, June 13 at 11 a.m
speaker: Harlynne Geisler
admission: free
Bring your kids to explore Vermeer's Woman in Blue Reading a Letter. Professional storyteller Harlynne Geisler will weave fanciful tales around this masterwork that was created 350 years ago. Ages 5+ are welcome. No reservations required.
5. Art in the Afternoon Gallery Talk
"The Unseen Window in Vermeer's "Woman in Blue Reading a Letter"
Wednesday, June 24 at 12:30 p.m.
speaker: Karen Hellman (assistant curator, department of photographs, J. Paul Getty Museum)
Admission: Free
Although the canvases of Vermeer were created two centuries prior to the invention of photography, their quiet, luminous depictions of interior scenes have often been related to "photographic" qualities. This presentation discusses a few ways in which photography can offer a new lens through which to view Woman in Blue Reading a Letter.
Karen Hellman is an assistant curator in the department of photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum. She is the curator of the exhibitions, In Focus: Picturing Landscape (2012), At the Window: The Photographer's View (2013), and In Focus: Ansel Adams (2014). Currently she is working on a forthcoming exhibition In Focus: Daguerreotypes (fall 2015). She received her master's in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, in 2004, and she received her doctorate in art history from The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, in 2010.
6. Art in the Afternoon Gallery Talk
"Discordant Serenity and the Painting of Vermeer"
July 1 | 2:30 p.m.
speaker: Claudine Dixon (curatorial administrator, prints and drawings, Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
admission: free
Vermeer's Woman in Blue Reading a Letter will be discussed in the context of some of the historical and contemporary events surrounding the painting and its fantastic journey from seventeenth-century Delft in the Netherlands to recent visits to Southern California. The writings of various authors, including essayist Lawrence Washer and poet W. H. Auden, offer variant paths to consider thoughts and musings about history and art, allowing us to look at our relationship to this picture and think about a perspective that lies beyond the painted surface.
Claudine Dixon is the curatorial administrator for the department of prints and drawings at the LACMA. Before joining LACMA, Claudine worked at the UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts at the Hammer Museum. In addition to museum positions, she has taught art history courses for UCLA Extension, most notably on German art of the 19th and 20th centuries, and Rembrandt and Dutch art of the seventeenth century.
7. Guest Lecture
"The Interior Life of Vermeer"
Monday, July 13 | 10 a.m.
Amy Walsh (curator of European paintings, Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
admission: free
Gallery talks feature leading curators, historians, scholars and artists. Guests will walk, talk and explore the Timken collection and special exhibitions. Registration is not required.
For more events and details about The Private World of Vermeer, visit the website at www.timkenmuseum.org or call (619) 239-5548.
About the Timken Museum of Art:
Known as one of the finest small museums in the world, the Timken Museum of Art celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2015, and provides visitors with an accessible and enriching cultural experience featuring a beautiful collection, intimate surroundings, and free admission.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and Sundays, noon to 4:30 p.m. It is closed on Mondays and major holidays. For more information, visit http://www.timkenmuseum.org. Follow the museum on Facebook or Twitter at @TimkenArtMuseum or call (619) 239-5548.
Walter Liedtke Dies in Tragic Train Crash
Walter Liedtke, Curator of Metropolitan Museum of Art and renowned Vermeer expert as well as one of the most distinguished scholars of Dutch and Flemish painting in the world, died in the train incident outside New York on the evening of February 3. Walter was returning to his home in Bedford Hills, where he lived with his wife, Nancy. As was his habit, he was riding the front "quiet car," in which he found the tranquility necessary for writing and reading. Five other people died in the accident.
Walter conjugated culture, curiosity, passion and rigor in whatever he wrote and in all the exhibitions he curated, whether it be the monumental Vermeer and the Delft School or the intimately scaled Vermeer's Masterpiece: 'The Milkmaid'. The catalogue of the former remains a fundamental contribution to the proper contextualization of the artist. His monograph (Vermeer: The Complete Paintings) constitutes a finely nuanced reading of the artist's unique accomplishments in the light of modern Vermeer scholarship. But Walter interest in things Vermeer was wide and varied enough to comprise a computerized analysis of the weave of the artist's canvases or the opinions from practicing artists and art lovers outside of the art institutional setting.
Walter's energy, brilliance and organizational capacity allowed him to publish extensively and curate a number of key exhibitions at the Metropolitan.
His most important exhibitions include:
Vermeer: il secolo d'oro
dell'arte olandese (September 2012-January 2013), Rembrandt at Work: The Great
Portrait from Kenwood House (April-May 2012), Vermeer's Masterpiece: The
Milkmaid (September-November 2009), The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in
the Metropolitan Museum of Art (September 2007-January 2008) and Vermeer and
the Delft School (June-September 2001). The latter brought in over 500,000 visitors to the Metropolitan.
His most important publications include:
Vermeer: The
Complete Paintings (2008), Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2001), Vermeer and
the Delft School (1995), Rembrandt/not Rembrandt in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art: Aspects of Connoisseurship (1992) and Flemish
Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1982).
Remembering Walter
The Young Walter Liedtke
—Garry Schwartz
http://www.garyschwartzarthistorian.nl/schwartzlist/?id=198
Walter Liedtke: A Reflection and Appreciation
—Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/walter-liedtke-a-reflection-and-appreciation-1423263645
Walter Liedtke, Our Friend and Distinguished Colleague (1945–2015)
—Thomas P. Campbell
https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/walter-liedtke
Walter Liedtke, Curator at Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dies at 69
—Randy Kennedy
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/arts/design/walter-liedtke-curator-at-metropolitan-museum-of-art-dies-at-69.html?_r=0
Video testimonies:
Mr. Liedtke's Metropolitan presentation, Connections/Living with Vermeer:
http://www.metmuseum.org/connections/living_with_vermeer#/Feature/
Youtube video Mr. Liedtke's discussion of Rembrandt's Aristotle and Bust: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2dCeTPDEKY
Vermeer-related publication
Vermeer (Arts and Ideas)
Wayne Franits
March 23, 2015
https://amzn.to/3DGohrr
In this new monograph, the latest in Phaidon's Art and Ideas series, Wayne Franits examines the work of Vermeer within the framework of his times, one of the most intellectually creative periods in this history of art. Written in a lively and accessible style, and incorporating the latest scholarship on the artist, Franits provides fresh insights into many of Vermeer's most famous works, uncovering the creative process behind them and their wealth of meanings. All paintings by Vermeer are illustrated.
About the author:
Wayne Franits, a specialist in seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish art, is Professor of Art History at Syracuse University, New York. His numerous publications have explored a variety of topics within the field, ranging from genre painting and portraiture to the work of the Dutch followers of Caravaggio.
Also available at amazon.com
Surprise Exhibition of Vermeer's Woman in Blue Reading a Letter in Minneapolis
Masterpieces in Focus: Johannes Vermeer
Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Cargill Gallery)
Minneapolis, Minn.
January 16–May 3, 2015
Price: free of charge
http://new.artsmia.org/masterpiece-in-focus/
Article:
"On Vermeer's Girl Reading a Letter: A Q&A with MIA's Patrick Noon"
by Pamela Espeland
http://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2015/01/vermeers-woman-reading-letter-qa-mias-patrick-noon
Lecture:
Lawrence
Weschler | "Posers: Marvel, Majesty and Sovereignty among the Habsburgs and in Vermeer"
Sunday, April 19, 2015 at 2:00 pm
http://new.artsmia.org/event/lawrence-weschler-%C7%80-posers-marvel-majesty-and-sovereignty-among-the-habsburgs-and-in-vermeer/
With one of the world's finest Vermeer paintings presently residing at the MIA alongside a magnificent exhibition of Habsburg splendors, Lawrence Weschler will unpack a posit about posing and the posed. Kings, queens, noblemen and noblewomen are continually striking a pose, but who exactly is posing whom (and what?) when a painter attempts to capture that stance? And what was Vermeer up to when he set about capturing something altogether new and different in his portraits? In other words, what does it mean to be sovereign—sovereign over what, in whose eyes, and to what end?
Lawrence Weschler is director emeritus of the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU and author of such books as Vermeer in Bosnia and Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder.
Tickets:
$10; $5 MIA members; free for Paintings Affinity Group members. To register, call (612) 870-6323 or reserve online.