This is a response to watching "Tim's Vermeer" on Friday. I wanted to penetrate Vermeer a bit more, but quickly, unlike Tim, who worked for years on creating his Vermeer, "The Piano Lesson." Terrific film. However, my conclusion is the film is wrong, Judging by Vermeer's ability to paint landscapes and figures and given the painterly vitality of the surfaces, I don't think he sat for months with tiny brushes and a mirror as the movie asserts. I think Vermeer did indeed look at scenes through a camera obscura, liked the look and introduced some of those visual quirks into his work, but then painted his masterpieces in a straight ahead manner. Just a really amazing painter. Of course we will never know
Here's some scenes from "Tim's Vermeer."
This is wonderful! Vermeer was one of my very favourites while studying Art History. I did an essay on him, fascinating. Who are you painting next Rick? I should send you a photo of my King Tut in his tomb that has hung in my parents living room since 1971. Don't you love all of the big hits from the past?
ReplyDelete