![]() ![]() ![]() Woman in Blue Reading a Letter epitomizes the directness and quiet grandeur of his approach at mid-career. ![]() The apparently closely observed moments of private activity and thought he captured in paint are in fact artful constructs, in which Vermeer deployed his sophisticated command of perspective, optical effects, and emotional impact of color to create plausible, yet somehow elusive subjects. Despite extensive archival research that has revealed much about the difficult financial circumstances of the artist's life, familial relationships and avid support by a local patron, many questions about his life and artistic practice remain.Īfter an early career as a large-scale history painter, Vermeer turned his attention to the interior domestic realm in about 1656. A meticulous and careful painter whose innovations were not well-known outside his native city, he may have produced about fifty paintings in just over twenty years, of which about thirty-five survive. Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) was born and spent his comparatively brief career in Delft. As seen in other paintings by Vermeer and his contemporaries, the conical shape in style in the mid-1660s was achieved by wearing a flared jacket over a thick skirt turned over at the waist. For some viewers, her shape suggests pregnancy, which would have been an untypical subject for the period. The significance of the woman's rounded silhouette, which was reduced along the back by Vermeer during the painting process, has prompted much debate since the late 19th century. Although the content of the correspondence is a mystery, the woman's bent head and parted lips impart a sense of suspense. This is Vermeer's most refined and enigmatic treatment of the popular theme of letter reading. In keeping with the delicate atmosphere of the interior, he softened the topography represented on the large map of Holland and West Friesland to muted blue, taupe and ocher tonalities that suggest her complex internal state. In a masterful demonstration of Vermeer's command (and manipulation) of optical effects, the chairs and map rail casts bluish shadows on the wall, but not the woman herself. It glints off the large brass nails decorating the Spanish chairs, which have lions head finials, as well as the small tacks along the edge of the seat. Original oil painting on birch panel portrait of a young girl in a traditional. Soft morning light highlights her forehead and glances across the delicate fabric of the jacket, but leaves the bow around a side curl of her hair and the back of her form in deep shadow. ![]() The woman is comfortably dressed in a blue padded bed jacket ( beddejak), decorated with yellow bows on the front and sleeve, and a long heavy skirt. On the table, a second page of the missive partially covers a string of large pearls on a blue ribbon, perhaps just removed from the open jewelry box nearby. Standing motionless at a table before an unseen window, a young woman intently reads the crisp page of a letter-possibly a precious message from a lover. The composition is so meticulously ordered, that every element contributes to the reflective mood of the female subject at its center. Cookies allow us to personalize the content and facilitate your access to the shopping cart, offer social media features and analyze our traffic.Vermeer's quiet scene is at once familiar and enigmatic. Our website uses session cookies to improve site navigation and to enhance your online experience by maintaining information from page to page within these applications. To go further : A movie to watch : "Le Mystère Picasso" by Henri-Georges Clouzot, maybe the most beautiful movie dedicated to an artist. To keep in mind : The biggest artist of the XXth century His contemporaries : Pablo Picasso was, with Georges Braque, coinventor of the cubism and he considered Henri Matisse as his only rival we could also add Joan Miro and Salvador Dali, the two others great spanish artists. Inspiration, influence : Goya, Velasquez, Delacroix and Ingres for the great classic artists Van Gogh, Cézanne and Gauguin for the great modern artists. Main works : Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Guernica, La colombe de la Paix. ![]()
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