bujno
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 648
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Post by bujno on Sept 10, 2006 5:04:23 GMT -7
I like best the Dead Souls communication. It is a deeply moving picture. It does not soothe me - it makes me aggitated inside. Great work to me! At first I automatically looked for references to the 'Dead Souls', the mind is lazy a think in strereotypes, and then the meaning of your picture hit me strooong! Thanks, Pieter.
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Post by pieter on Sept 10, 2006 11:21:07 GMT -7
Wojtek, Dead Souls I made in the last year of my study of the art academy, I was doing something completely differant also in that time, a work placement in a Audio company In Rotterdam, because one of the teachers had invented a plan, * BAS ( Business Art Stage) plan, to learn students the entrepreneurship in a pragmatic cultural field. It was quite rediculous for me, because I choose a subject I had no experiance in, and went working for an Audio company in Rotterdam, as Personal assistant. It was adventurous, and sometimes I worked 48 hours in a weekend (with little naps), going from one job to another, with the guys and truck of the company. It was actually to heavy for me, I was not as strong as those Rotterdam "harbour workers" who could carry that heavy equipement week after week. I was actually a sort of roadie, I had signed and I had to do my duty until the assignement was over. But I did it, and got my certificate for it. This costed me a lot of precious time, which I could not invest in painting. Due to that I became a bit of gloomy mood, working late (often at night, with artificial light), in my studio back then, in which building Death (Black) metal, Punk and Rock bands rehearsed and jammed with fellow Pop-musicians, creating sometimes hellish sounds of heave bass drums, concrete booming sound, heavy layers of electonic noise (guitars). And because I was alone I could play loud music too, Joy Division, Velvet Underground, PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth (Goo, Day Dream Nation) and Möterhead. I lived in the South and had to cross the bridge at night and walk or cycle through nomansland to go to my appartment on the ninth floor of a depressing building. So I often stayed for days in my studio, being obsessed by painting, with a petrol heater agianst the cold, painting and painting and painting. This painting came to exsistance in that hectic and manic time, when there was not much time left, actually it is a mixture of oil painting and paint brush (like the grafitti people use). But in the same time it is a paining I worked a very long time at, because it has many layers. The title Dead Souls I took not from the satirical novel by the Russian author Nikolai Gogol, but from the song of Joy Division I listened too a lot in that time: Dead SoulsSomeone take these dreams away, That point me to another day, A duel of personalities, That stretch all true realities.
That keep calling me, They keep calling me, Keep on calling me, They keep calling me.
Where figures from the past stand tall, And mocking voices ring the halls. Imperialistic house of prayer, Conquistadors who took their share.
That keep calling me, They keep calling me, Keep on calling me, They keep calling me.
Calling me, calling me, calling me, calling me.
They keep calling me, Keep on calling me, They keep calling me, They keep calling me.That time was a strange mixture of a dark environment (I was luckily an outsider in, but an observer too), of Sex, Drugs and Rock'nRoll that was surrounding me in the building where my studio was. The end of the art academy time, relations that ended and started, dramatic scenes, a suicide, promiscuity, people that could not handle their Coke and alcohol addiction (I never went to parties I knew hard drugs were used, I did'nt like that), problems with dealers because of that (scary types), agression, broken glass and wood, the building was in an area with a lot of junkies and dealers, heroin, crack and smoked cociane. If you stayed out of that world you had no problem, I did stay out of that world. Stress (lack of time before the final exams), nightmare's, workaholism, a night rythm, constant Noise, restlessness, Sturm und Drang (I want for once to make a good painting, I thought) and intensive contact with fellow artist who had their studio on the same level as I had (the second floor) add to the quality or lack of quality (that depends on the viewers judegement) of the paintings I made in that time. Sometimes I miss that hectic time and the quintessence of the materialistical (about how you paint, about layers, about the canvas, brushes and drawn lines) and theoretical (conceptual, art philosophical) debates about art in that time. From the other side I don't miss the tragic side and the problems (many people had) of that time. I am out of that world now and on my own. That's better! I feel free. Wojtek, I can understand that the painting moves you but does not soothe you, and makes you aggitated inside. It does that to others too. The painting is abou the dark side of our time and mankind, it is about the dark side inside ourselves (we don't talk about, because we don't like that side of ourselves). As an artist, musician or in another creating profession you can use that dark side to create energy, and put that in something positive, which in my view is a painting, drawing, piece of music, architectural design or a great histprical novel. like the Norman Davies novel I am reading now. I hope that my work can survive the tides of time, and bring people into contact with some experiance, an experiance I had when I made it. Be aware that a photograph of a painting is differant than standing in front of that painting in reality, and experiancing the format, the paint, the figures and the space. An image is differant than a painting. An Ukrainian-American uncle of mine in Dixon, Illinois (second husbant of my mothers sister, my aunt) wanted to buy the painting in that time, but I could not sell it. Pieter * www.coal.nl/zoo/bas/english.html
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Post by pieter on Sept 10, 2006 15:08:07 GMT -7
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nancy
European
Posts: 2,144
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Post by nancy on Sept 10, 2006 20:52:42 GMT -7
Pieter,
I especially like your photographs, the ones you showed me last year: mostly black and white, with some little bits of color. Those are wonderful.
Do you still make photographs?
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Post by pieter on Sept 11, 2006 0:24:20 GMT -7
Nancy,
Thank you, yes every now and then I take photographs, not many in Arnhem but most often when I am abroad in foreign cities or the larger Dutch cities. The last series of digital photo's I made in Warsaw, but they were in color.
Pieter
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bujno
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 648
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Post by bujno on Sept 11, 2006 5:36:18 GMT -7
Pieter, excuse my messing thing up and responding somewhere else to what I read in another folder. Anyway, what I want to add that the hectic time your Dead Souls Communicating was painted is very well preserved and part of oit touches the watching person even through a photograph. I immensly appreciated your decription of teh bacjgrounf of your creative process. My other impression after reading those last postings of yours: well, you're Dutch in part so the stereotypic pathway of thought went to VvGogh. I read his "LUst for life' a set of letters with his brother. If I understoof correctly thatwas the only person with whom he exanchged thought openly throughout his life. Would it be then so, that the contact with others, the extravertic part of us, is not indisepnsible to create.
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Post by pieter on Sept 11, 2006 8:11:00 GMT -7
Pieter, excuse my messing thing up and responding somewhere else to what I read in another folder. Anyway, what I want to add that the hectic time your Dead Souls Communicating was painted is very well preserved and part of oit touches the watching person even through a photograph. I immensly appreciated your decription of teh bacjgrounf of your creative process. My other impression after reading those last postings of yours: well, you're Dutch in part so the stereotypic pathway of thought went to VvGogh. I read his "LUst for life' a set of letters with his brother. If I understoof correctly thatwas the only person with whom he exanchged thought openly throughout his life. Would it be then so, that the contact with others, the extravertic part of us, is not indisepnsible to create. Wojtek, Thank you for responding the way you did, the reaction showed me that you read it thoroughly, and thought about what you read. Today I can stand in front of the painting " Dead Souls Communicating" and watch at it from a distance, and nearly I can think this could have been made by a differant person (the me of 25 in 1994/1995 is a completely differant person than the me me now, the 36 years old guy, from september 2006). My mental and physical state was differant back then, it was a time not only of artistic stuggle with " materialist" and " content" problems of the actual paintings and the medium painting, I was also in a psychological struggle with myself and with others. Life goes on, so in that period also a difficult love affair, the tension between my Arnhem and Amsterdam social networks (there is a real competition between Arnhem and Amsterdam; between stay in Arnhem and come to Amsterdam, up to today). Most important was to stay focussed on the painting and not to be slured in other things that were going on. It was an period with a lot of nightlife, if I did not painted I like to go out and dance with fashion girls (trying to make contact ofcourse), go to pubs with friends, drink beer and whiskey with friends, and wine with girlfriends. So besides the dark side of the mental and physical shape of an environment, and cultural life there was the bright side of the beauty, intensity, dedication and quality ( Quintessense) of the people I was surrounded with; painters, sculpturists, comic drawers, graphical designers, fashion designers (most of Arnhems fame today comes from the Fashion department, which is very good), furniture designers- and developpers, three demensional (architectural) designers, land art (ists), Art theoretics, art historians,art critics, art restorers, collectors, art dealers, galery holders, art teachers, poets, musicians (Classical-, pop and art), dj's and Vj's, cameramen and women, film- and video editors, literary critics, engeneers, Yuppie's, and Maecenases; both from Ancièn riche families as the better sort of Nouveau Riche kind, from just Middle class to sophisticated Old Arnhem aristocracy (Bourgeois families). They were Dutch people from all over the Netherlands, Germans, Belgians, Swiss (from the German part of Switzerland), some Poles, Scandinavians, and from other nationalities. And the gatherings were never exclusive Arnhem, because people from art academies and scenes from Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Rotterdam and other cities and towns would come over for shared projects, to exebit work or just visit (stay at the houses of Arnhem friends or colleages). It was a national and cosmopolitan (International atmosphere). Most artists who were or ar succesful have an art gallery in Amsterdam. It was a mix or cross over of very refined, sensible, civilized and educated people, and sometimes rude or raw (Rebel without a Cause, Bukovksi, Leaving Las Vegas) types, but in a strange way the mix was good, because the people inbetween, were the cement. This is probably in every country and society the same, the art scene or world in Warsaw, London, New York, Krakow or LA will work the same. Wojtek, Vincent van Gogh was not only a great and manic painter, he was a great writer too. Many people read his letters in Dutch or translated and speak about the literary quality of his letters to his brother Theo van Gogh. He must have been an extremely differant person, with crazy Utopic (messianic?) ideas about a perfect art community. It is an incredible person, when you look and feel the power of his paintings and letters. Tragic life, but how glad can and must we be with what this genius left the world. The seconds greatest Dutch painter in my view after Rembrandt. The expressionist in me sees two great inspirators of Modern art in the beginning of the 20th century, Van Gogh and Cézanne. That may be a bit one sided but that's the way I see it. Pieter
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Post by pieter on Sept 11, 2006 15:06:35 GMT -7
pieter This was so extraordinary of you for presenting some of your work and that of your self. Some how, this is what I imagined you in appearance, not so sure why, but what my mind perceived as. Please do forgive if perhaps my clumsy attempt of description of my thoughts as you perceive, I am not an art critic. But, only able to place into description, what my eyes and senses perceive. I like your work. I like it because it is an extension of your senses into a frame work of perception that I receive. A feeling. A sensual perception that is of life in motion,but, also that is finite. Very closely of that of the long past {DADA} movement in art so very long past, but, in my opinion, never to be dated. For art is infinite. To me, the use of illogical as an arrogance, is a means of removing the complacency of conventionality. It is just a wast of time to be bored with conventional presentation. I see and understand you use both that of oil and acrylic. It is interesting that of artist will seem to stick with a medium that suits well the purpose of their work. For it is good! A painter has to distantiate every now and then from his painting, walk away from it and watch it from a propper distance, whilst standing or sitting down on a chair, which stands there for that purpose. So for me it is normal to view from two to three meter away. With photography. Usually a view of much closer to attain the feel the artist is providing with their medium. Water colour, my favourite. The view distance as that of oil/acrylic. I like water colour because: It softens the subject matter with colour and blending. A gift to the senses of feeling and sensual perception that of warmth and emotional attachment. Thank you once again pieter for extending your self and your work for others to enjoy as a treat to the senses, in as much as I have enjoyed this brief encounter of artistic intermezzo before re-entering the reality of this, that of daily life. Also that of reality, just stepped on my reading glasses and they were distroyed in the process of {foot destruction}. Charles Charles, I react a little bit late to your posting, because I was bussy with a personal network building (towards a new job here in the Netherlands), and with my "own" board here the Philosophy, Religion, Art & Culture board. I put the task of being a moderator there on my shoulders and so have to take that job seriously. I am enthousiast about that part of the Forum as I am about the whole Forum. I like the participation, content, input and the quality and personal motivations of Wojtek (Bujno) and the new guy on the block, Scatts, because their contributions there are good. I had to read about Henryk Elzenberg, and give my feedback on that philosopher, and that wasn't easy. Presenting some of my work and myself was a great step for me, because you show who you are. It is a risk, but a risk I am willing to take. Ofcourse you are only able to place into description, what your eyes and senses perceive, because that is what a viewer does. Emotion, analythical capacities and the critical mind of the eye of the beholder comes up when once see a work of someone else. DADA is one of the many movements that inspired me and gave me energy out of that, but that was not the materialistic influence, or artistic importance of them, it was more their radical anarchism, unconventional and unorthodox way of doing things. Actuallly their influence on me is very limited, because I was more fascinated by the Fauvists (Matisse), Futurists, Constructivists, German expressionists (the emotional Sturm und Drang of Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter), the Cubists Picasso and Braque, the Surealists ( Max Ernst, Jean Arp, Man Ray and Salvador Dali), the French artist Marcel Duchamp, and especially the American artists of the second half of the 20th century and the colourful and expressive African art I saw in South-Africa ( African masks, African wooden sculpture, shields and furniture -which is not known in the west, and Contemporary African artists). The use of illogical as an arrogance, is a means of removing the complacency of conventionality, comes from that Dadaist anarchism and the Surealist vision that visual imagery from the subconscious mind is used with no intention of making the work logically comprehensible. Add to that the Post-modernist Syncretism and you come into my direction. I only use the elements of Post-modernism I like, because with many things in Post modernism I do not agree. Levinas and Wittgenstein are more my cup of tea than Michel Foucault, Lyotard, Richard Rorty and Jean Baudrillard. Jacques Derrida general deconstruction philosophy has an attraction, because it is fruitful to read about it. To his doubt his deconstruction theory is often used (or abused) by artist, as a theoretical foundation for their work. And that is understandable. I use both oil and acrylic, because there are differant kind of paintings, for oil you have to have paitience and more skills to be able to get to a good professional result, acrylic paint requires skills too whe you use the media I use, but it is easier and faster. Often the smaller formats I make in acrylic and the bigger paintings which cost more time, are Oil paintings. I enjoy using both mediums, but I prefer oil. I must admit this: For whilst viewing art, a point I absolutely do, is always view from of two to three meter away. Then the prospective of resolution will then strike my senses with the feel of the result of form/colour and prospective. Photography for me is closely related to painting and drawing, because I think the same way about composition, perspective and the goal. Photography is also related to the cinematographic memory in my mind. Film stills inspire me, and when I take pictures I actually want to make a sequence (serie related photo's) or photo-essay. I personal like water colour less, because the colors are less powerful. In water color I only like the perfectionist, esthetic, and traditional Japanese and Chinese watercolors of water lillies, trees, landscapes and nature. When I have to choose between Aquarelle (watercolor) and Gouache (watercolor with the use of more pigment and chalk) I choose Gouache. I used to do both watercolor techniques as a child, when I often painted with my father in the Belgian mountains, landscapes, villages and small towns. I am sorry that you stepped on your reading glasses and hope you had a second pair in reserve. Pieter www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/culture/art.htmwww.gregkucera.com/kentridge.htmwww.zulu-art.com/zuluart_start.html
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bujno
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 648
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Post by bujno on Sept 12, 2006 8:00:03 GMT -7
Pieter, thanks for what you present here. I am learnig and growing. Today, it is I who is pressed for time... See you later!
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Post by pieter on Sept 12, 2006 8:18:16 GMT -7
Pieter, thanks for what you present here. I am learnig and growing. Today, it is I who is pressed for time... See you later! You're welcome!
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Post by sciwriter on Sept 12, 2006 15:57:12 GMT -7
Pieter, thanks for your creative material. Carl
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bujno
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 648
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Post by bujno on Sept 13, 2006 3:25:10 GMT -7
Pieter, so your persoanl top two would be Rembrandt and VvGogh. I must confess that especially the Night Watch which I have seen in Rijksmuseum impreseed my a lot, yes. But I prefer van Gogh and Jan Vermeer. Why in your opinion Holland has so many outstanding painters?
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Post by pieter on Sept 13, 2006 4:41:33 GMT -7
Pieter, so your persoanl top two would be Rembrandt and VvGogh. I must confess that especially the Night Watch which I have seen in Rijksmuseum impreseed my a lot, yes. But I prefer van Gogh and Jan Vermeer. Why in your opinion Holland has so many outstanding painters? Wojtek, Dutch Golden AgeOfcourse Jan Vermeer (1632 - 1675) is a great painter too, he would come on place three in my top 10 of painters. Actually it is difficult for me to make such a list, because it is hard to compare painters who have differant stiles and backgrounds. Vermeers oeuvre (= total amount of his works) is very limited, they say he painted only 35 paintings in his life. It's an incredible refined painter, who works in layers, and he died very young at the age of forty-three. Did you saw the most recent movie about Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), that said it all, it showed 17th century Holland, the Dutch light and the setting of the time in which Vermeer lived and painted. That Dutch light ( Hollands licht) is one of the most important components of the Dutch ;andscape and city (town) paintings, it has to do with the sea climate, and the connection the Sea-climate of the North-Sea makes with the German continental influences fro the east. ( that is my theory). When you drive in a car, train, or cycle or walk through the Dutch country, you will see what I mean. Especially the river landscapes (Rhine/Rijn, Waal, Maas/Maes), which devellop special cloud scapes. In my vision the Netherlands has so many painters because of the period that historians call the Dutch Golden Age (roughly coinciding with the seventeenth century), in which Dutch world power, political influence, science, commerce, and culture — particularly painting — reached their pinnacle. Although made by hand, Dutch painting was a sort of mass industry, because there were many rich merchants, and foreign buyers who wanted portraits, Dutch landscapes or paintings of the Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Delft, Gouda and etc.). The Warsaw National museum (Muzeum Narodowe) has a great collection of Dutch (Northern Netherlands) and Flemish (Southern-Netherlands = Belgian) painting too. Flemish paintersBefore that and in the same time in the Southern-Netherlands you had the Flemish painters I like very much, Flemish painting flourished from the early 15th century until the 17th century. Flanders delivered the leading painters in Northern Europe and attracted many promising young painters from neighbouring countries. These painters were invited to work at foreign courts and had a Europe-wide influence. Late GothicThe so-called Flemish " Primitives" were the first to popularize the use of oil paint. Their art has its origins in the miniature painting of the late Gothic period. Chief among them were Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes and Rogier van der Weyden. RenaissanceFrom the early 16th century, the Italian Renaissance started to influence the Flemish painters. The result was very different from the typical Italian Renaissance painting. The leading artist was Pieter Brueghel the Elder. BaroqueAfter the Siege of Antwerp in 1585, the Southern Provinces of the Netherlands (" Flanders") remained under Spanish rule and were separated from the independent Dutch Republic. The Baroque period was dominated by Rubens and his followers ( Jacob Jordaens, Anthony van Dyck). DeclineFrom the late 16th century on, many people fled the religious wars and moved from the Southern Netherlands ( Flanders) to the Dutch Republic. After the Eighty Years War, the closing of the port of Antwerp put an end to the economic and cultural significance of Flanders and sealed the shift of the center of gravity from the Southern to the Northern Netherlands ( Dutch Golden Age). A revival of painting in this region came only after the Belgian Revolution of 1830, painters from this period are categorized as Belgian rather than Flemish.
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Post by pieter on Sept 13, 2006 4:59:47 GMT -7
A Brief Introduction to The Golden Age of Dutch Painting
Dutch painting of the Golden Age ( from the first years of the seventeenth-century to the last of the same century) has enjoyed enormous popularity from its birth to the present day. The reason is essentially that it openly and unreservedly embraces everyday common human experience. It can be understood by everyone. The following is a brief introduction to the social conditions that lead to this birth along with its principal characteristics.
Social and Historical Background and General Considerations
After years of struggle against Spanish domination, the northern provinces won their independence in 1609. The tremendous industrial and commercial activity that followed made the Netherlands one of the most powerful nations of the world. In the United Provinces most people lived in cities where economic prosperity was widespread and there existed both relatively high religious and social tolerance. The Dutch were exceptionally literate since reading was important in a Protestant society which maintained that the individual must pursue the Bible by himself. Books were published in great numbers and institutes for higher education. This economic and educational background was fundamental for the explosive cultural growth which was to follow.
Persons in all walks of life bought paintings and hung them. Reports of this fact were written at the time for example, by two frequently quoted English travellers. Peter Mundy, who was in Amsterdam in 1640 commented on the love of paintings he observed.
"All in general striving to adorn their houses, especially the outer or street roome, with costly peeces, Butchers and bakers not much inferior in their shoppes, which are, Fairely sett Forth, yea many tymes blacksmithes, Cobblers, ets...will have some picture or another by their Forge and in their stalle."
The famous diarist John Evelyn was at the Rotterdam fair in the following year, and he wrote that even farmers' houses were full of paintings. A considerable proportion of the inhabitants of Dutch towns had more than sufficient income to provide for their fundamental needs. Many choose to spend their surplus on furnishings for their homes, including paintings. This lead to a great demand for paintings, but almost exclusively paintings at low prices. Since they were to be hung in the rooms of ordinary Dutch houses, most of them were small.
"The diversity of Dutch seventeenth-century paintings was fostered by the fact that instead of painting to the order the wealthy and powerful, painters were (for the first time in the history of Western art) producing wares commercially. Individual buyers of different backgrounds and various tastes were receptive to pictures of all kinds of subject matter and a wide range of styles. Large numbers of paintings were sold. But it seems that even larger numbers were put on sale than the market could easily absorb. Prices were generally low, and painters did not grow rich. The competition was so sharp that few could prosper. A number of accomplished painters had to earn their living by other means."
The most distinguishing characteristic of Dutch art is probably the close scrutiny of the natural world. The elevated, mystical or supernatural aspects were largely ignored. The concern with the infinite qualities of light seems to be a common thread linking almost every Dutch painter. Along with this characteristic another outstanding aspect of Dutch art is the domestic scene in an interior setting. The Dutch people have always been particularly attached to the household. Dutch painters have monumentalized it in their art, the most humble household of the poor and the most elegant dwellings of the well-to-do were both treated with respect and human participation and sometimes with warm humor. Even the interiors of churches are humanized. A large number of painters produced a wide variety of subject matter including scenes from daily life known as "genre": brawls in a tavern, women busy in their domestic chores, soldiers playing cards and brothels are some of the most exploited. Landscape, portraiture and still-life, which had existed for centuries, were re-examined in a fresh light and brought to hitherto unprecedented levels of naturalness. Earthly humor, often with satirical overtones, was another speciality of Dutch art. In the painting of Vermeer in particular, we can see the fundamental characteristics of Dutch painting, love of light and the common human experience of everyday life, brought to their highest levels of artistic expression.
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Post by pieter on Sept 13, 2006 5:08:46 GMT -7
Johannes Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer or Jan Vermeer (October 31, 1632 - buried on December 15, 1675) was a Dutch painter who lived and worked in Delft. He is also referred to as Vermeer of Delft or Johannes van der Meer. Alongside Rembrandt, Vermeer is the best known painter of the Dutch Golden Age, and his paintings are admired for their transparent colours, careful composition, and brilliant use of light. Although his choice of subject matter, colors, and composition was similar to that of certain contemporaries (especially Pieter de Hooch), Vermeer achieved a timeless, monumental quality in his paintings that places it on a level all its own. His total output was extremely small by the standards of the time, with perhaps 50 attributed paintings in all, of which approximately 35 have survived. His latterday high regard is a recent phenomenon; for many years all but forgotten, he was "rediscovered" in the mid-19th Century by the French writer, critic, and activist Thore-Burger. His reputation and stature has been on the ascent ever since.
Life
Little is known about Vermeer's life, outside of basic facts provided by contemporary records and legal documents. He was born the son of an innkeeper in Delft in 1632. In 1653, at the age of twenty-one, Vermeer converted to Catholicism and married a Catholic woman, Catharina Bolnes, who came from a more prosperous bourgeois family. Catholics were an unpopular religious minority in Protestant Holland, and Vermeer and his wife moved into the house of his mother-in-law, Maria Thyns, in the "Papist Corner" of the town where Catholics congregated. Vermeer spent the rest of his life in his mother-in-law's house, and had eleven surviving children with Catherina (four others died in infancy). That same year, he was admitted to the Guild of St. Luke, the painters' guild, which meant he was recognised as a professional artist, although he was not able to pay his full membership dues until 1656. By 1657 Vermeer had a wealthy patron, Pieter Claesz van Ruijven, who purchased many of his paintings. Although Vermeer seems to have painted relatively few works, they sold for high prices. He supplemented his income by working as an art-dealer selling the works of other artists, and was assisted by support from his mother-in-law. In 1662 he was elected one of the headmen of the Guild of St. Luke, as he was for a second time in 1670, a sign of success and respectability. However, Vermeer's income dropped greatly after 1672, when a French invasion of Holland caused a general economic downturn and saw demand for luxury items like paintings collapse. With a large family to support, Vermeer was forced to take out a considerable loan in 1675. He died that same year at the age of forty-three.
Technique
Vermeer produced transparent colours by adding the paint onto the canvas in loosely granular layers, a technique called pointillé (not to be confused with pointillism). David Hockney, among other historians, has speculated that Vermeer possibly used a camera obscura to achieve precise positioning in his compositions, and this view seems to be supported by certain light and perspective effects which would be the result of lenses and not the naked eye; however, the issue is disputed by many other historians.
Themes
Vermeer painted mostly domestic interior scenes, and even his two known landscapes are framed with a window. His works are largely genre pieces and portraits, with the exception of two cityscapes. His paintings cover all layers of society, at one time portraying a simple milkmaid at work, at other times works show the luxury and splendour of rich notables and merchantmen in their roomy houses. Religious and scientific connotations can be found in his works.
Influence of other painters
- Carel Fabritius (1622–1654) who spent his final years in Delft. Vermeer's ideas about perspective, and his tendency to paint everyday themes were possibly influenced by Fabritius. - Italian painter Caravaggio (1573–1610), indirectly through Dutch followers. - Leonart Bramer, another painter from Delft, and witness to his marriage. - Vermeer owned a Dirck van Baburen painting, which appears in two of Vermeer's paintings.
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