First edition, London
1999
After early neglect Johannes
Vermeer's ascendancy in the world of art has been rapid. He painted what are regarded as some of the most precious
paintings of northern Europe. People admired his colours and his
compositional technique which produced quiet genre paintings of women
going about everyday tasks. Every painting draws the viewer in, yet does not yield its mystery no longer how long one views it.
Jan Vermeer van Delft from the figure at left in black beret of the painting ‘The Procuress’, which critics hold to be an authentic effigy of the young Vermeer
He
remained poor all his working life and never left Delft, his
hometown. He had but one major patron (Van Ruijven) who left his own daughter a legacy of 20 paintings by Vermeer.
Vermeer had eleven children to feed and depended on rents brought in by his mother-in-law, Maria Thins, for pursuing his passion to paint. In the end a ruinous war destroyed the art market and a defensive measure by the Dutch to flood the lowlands by opening the dykes inundated his mother-in-law's rental houses. That brought on destitution for the Vermeer family; he descended into despondency and mania and died, leaving behind 34 works, now considered priceless.
Vermeer had eleven children to feed and depended on rents brought in by his mother-in-law, Maria Thins, for pursuing his passion to paint. In the end a ruinous war destroyed the art market and a defensive measure by the Dutch to flood the lowlands by opening the dykes inundated his mother-in-law's rental houses. That brought on destitution for the Vermeer family; he descended into despondency and mania and died, leaving behind 34 works, now considered priceless.
Meera, KumKum, Zakia, Saras
Tracy
Chevalier mentions she must have seen three of Vermeer's paintings at
the National Gallery of Art growing up in Washington, D.C., but none
evoked a response at the time. It was later when she saw a poster of
the Girl with a Pearl Earring in her sister's apartment that
she was stirred and got one for herself.
Girl with a Pearl Earring - Vermeer
Slowly the idea grew to
write the story behind the painting as a historical novel, rooted
faithfully in the times. It was to be Ms Chevalier's second novel,
the one that made her famous and got her a film contract in addition.
Sunil, Thommo, & Hemjit
The novel is not literary, but there are several quotes that stand out:
But
what is the story in the painting?
— Griet's father asks her
I
would never stop working on a painting if I knew it was
not
complete.— Vermeer to Griet
During the session the women readers graciously posed in the way Vermeer had Griet pose for his famous painting, the GWAPE pose. Here is the first by Priya:
Priya in GWAPE pose with nose-ring
The readers gathered for a picture after the enjoyable session which concluded with Hemjit's spread of sandwiches and cutlets, to celebrate his birthday on Jan 16:
seated - Pamela, KumKum, Hemjit - standing Joe, Thommo, Zakia, Sunil, Saras, Meera
