Chasing Vermeer & A Lady Writing

While I was doing some research, I came across this mystery novel which deals with the theft of one of Vermeer’s paintings: A Lady Writing, which is actually the painting I have been working on the whole semester.

Chasing Vermeer is a children mystery novel dealing with the theft of Vermeer’s A Lady Writing written by Blue Balliet and illustrated by Brett Helquist. The novel is set in Hyde Park, Chicago. The thief responsible for the disappearance of the painting claims that he will not give the painting back to the museum unless the community figures out which paintings under Vermeer’s name were actually painted by him. As a consequence, the community and, especially two children, Calder and Petra, start examining art more carefully in order to get the painting back.

The themes of this novel are various: art, chance, coincidence, deception, and problem-solving. What is more, Balliet asserts that the central message is that kids are powerful thinkers whose ideas are valuable and that adults do not have the answer to every single question.

As for its critical reception, Chasing Vermeer has received many positive reviews and, in fact, it has awarded in several occasions, for instance, the Agatha Award for Best Juvenile mystery novel in 2005 or the Chicago Tribune Prize for Young Adult fiction in 2004. In 2004, Warner Brothers bought the rights to make a film based on Balliet’s Chasing Vermmer.

I think that the author took a wise decision when he  realized he wantes to write a book about art devoted to children. I think the plot is well-built and, what is more, the way the reader in involved in the story through the hidden messages provided by the illustrations can be very entertaining for children, since it makes them participate in the story.

 

References:

• Chasing Vermeer. (2011, May 4). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12:42, May 19, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chasing_Vermeer&oldid=427474268
• Chasing Vermeer. A mystery within as mystery. Retrieved, May 19, 2011, from http://www.ashlandschools.org/morgan_cottle/vermeer/

Vermeer’s influence on the 21st century

In my last post, I talked about how Vermeer had influenced modern arts and, more concretely, poetry. The 21st century has been no less influenced by his genius, and, after having gathered a few bookmarks on Vermeer, I realized that a few of them had the same in common: Vermeer’s influence on the 21st century. In this post, I will attempt to show you how this artist is present in a vast number of different fields such as cinematography, Apple Inc., advertising or skateboarding.

One of Vermeer’s most appraised works,A Girl Interrupted at her Music (which is precisely the painting I am working on)  inspired the title of Susanna Kaysen’s novel: Girl, Interrupted. The former was made into a film in 1999 starring Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie and Brittany Murphy. The film is based on writer Susanna Kaysen’s account of her 18-month stay at a mental hospital in the 1960s. It scored an Oscar and a Golden Globe.  I will leave you the trailer of the film down below in case you are interested in watching the film. It summarizes the plot very well and it provides you with extra information:

 

 

The technology giant Apple Inc. has also been captivated by Vermeer’s immense art production. They have come up with an Application or App. called ‘Johannes Vermeer Art Gallery’  which brings his artworks to your mobile device through two galleries. Actually, it is also suitable for Ipod and Ipad and it can be downloaded fom their official Itunes Store for only $0.99.  Here’s a screenshot of what you would find:

 

 

The third field I want to pinpoint is advertising. Jan Vermeer’s has also reached this world and  inspired Nestlé’s well-known product range La Lechera. I have included one of the commercials which is currently on TV for you to compare Vermeer’s The Milkmaid with the flesh and bone milkmaid that Nestlé’s has devised:

 

 

Last but not least, I stumbled upon a company devoted to personalize anything with anything. One of the most interesting products they offer is ‘patinetas Vermeer’, where you can personalize your skateboard with any of Vermeer’s pictorial works for an affordable price. Here’s an image of my favourite one:

 

I could include many more examples and cases of Vermeer’s influence on fields that belong to our everyday life such as TV shows or more films (i.e. The Girl with the Pear Earring). Nonetheless, I will conclude by saying that, as far as I am concerned, his art will never grow old since its imagery and technique are so powerful that it will still influence many generations to come.

References:

• Girl, Interrupted (1999). In Imdb, the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 16:44, February 2011, from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172493/
• Girl, Interrupted (1999). In Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:28, February 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl,_Interrupted_(film)
• Johannes Vermeer Virtual Art Gallery (2009). In Itunes Store. Retrieved 19:46, February 2011,from: http://itunes.apple.com/co/app/johannes-vermeer-virtual-art/id330543535?mt=8
• Patinetas Vermeer. In Zazzle. Retrieved 13:22, March 2011, from: http://www.zazzle.es/johannes+vermeer+patinetas
• Yogures La Lechera (2011). In Youtube, Broadcast Yourself. Retrieved 16:57, February 2011, from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvQSGjJb8Cg
• Girl, Interrupted (2009). In Youtube, Broadcast Yourself. Retrieved 20:52, February 2011, from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4-GD1VqdOA

The Woman with a Pearl Necklace

                           The Woman with a Pearl Necklace

 

  Introduction: 

     When looking to all the paintings of Vermeer, we find that they are moments which we experience in our lives and that what makes his paintings so beautiful and eternal. But what had attracted me in The Women with a Pearl Necklace is that we see in it an action which we do in everyday life, women and men. For some people, the lady is admiring herself, for others she is looking to the beautiful pearl necklace, but for others she is thinking of something else which may or may not have a relation with the pearl necklace. The painting may seem very calm and silent but in a way it talks to the viewer and breath into him many feelings. This painting in particular is putting us in the state in which we come to decide which way to take, which things we like, and what do we want to.patron, Van Ruijven

 

 Description of the Painting:

    The woman with the a Pearl Necklace portrays a woman gazing into a mirror while holding two yellow ribbons that are attached to a pearl necklace she wears. She stands behind a table on which there are many different subjects and a chair in the corner of a sunlit room.

 Comparing to other Paintings:

 

     In this painting, along with Woman in Blue Reading a Letter and Woman Holding a Balance, Vermeer made a composition in which he showed a single woman focusing on some kind of occupation. In each case, the woman is shown turning inward with her thoughts, and using some minor physical activity to give herself some countenance. In this case, she gazes into a mirror while holding two yellow ribbons attached to a pearl necklace around her neck. The distance between the lonely figure to the right and the mirror on the wall, next to the window to the left, is filled by a heavy table slightly to the fore. This part of the painting is very dark, with nothing more than a Chinese vase and a rug irregularly covering the table to occupy the space.

The falling light in from the left, dispersed by the creamy bare wall, shows the meditative young woman admiring her reflection in the small mirror.  The stillness and introspection of the models reflect the search for aloof withdrawal and serenity as taught by Buddhist writings. It is in this sense that we must understand and appreciate Vermeer’s creations during his maturity.  

      The Woman with a pearl necklace, now in Berlin, is one of the largest of Vermeer’s small, single-figure paintings, having a few centimeters more height than the National Gallery paintings, for example. It is probably the work listed in the 1696 inventory as “a young lady adorning herself, very beautiful”. Yet despite this and its size, it was priced at only 63 guilders, in contrast with the smaller but in many ways similar Woman holding a balance.

      Even within the restricted range and constant repetitions of Vermeer’s pictorial topography, these two most narrowly coincide. Only the Woman tuning a Lute, in the Metropolitan, New York, which is on the scale of the Woman with a pearl necklace, might be compared with them. All three show the window butted against the plain rear wall; the leading, where it is visible, is the clear version of the heraldic pattern seen in the other Berlin painting, the Glass of wine. All three have a similar heavy table placed against the window wall, slightly to the fore of the window. Two further similarities are shared by the Woman with a pearl necklace and Woman holding a balance: the carpet covering the table is rucked back to form an irregular range of ridges and valleys, at once exposing the bare table-top and obscuring the objects on it, and beside the window hangs a similar mirror. Oddly, perhaps, the mirror into which the woman with a pearl necklace is looking is smaller than that in the Woman holding a balance. In reproduction the two appear to make a pair not dissimilar to the two in the National Gallery, London. In reality, the difference in size means that they cannot have been intended as pendants in the strict sense. Nevertheless, as they both were, in all probability, bought directly from the artist by his patron, Van Ruijven, it may be that the second piece (whichever that might have been) was painted in the knowledge that the two works would remain in the one collection and be seen in a similar light.

 

References:

Retrieved March 17, 2009, from: 

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/v/vermeer/03a/19woman.html

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/v/vermeer/03a/19woman.html

http://www.mystudios.com/vermeer/19/vermeer-pearl-detail-woman.html

http://www.vermeer-foundation.org/Woman-with-a-Pearl-Necklace-(detail)-1662-64.html

http://www.paintinghere.com/painting/Woman_with_a_Pearl_Necklace_7109.html

http://www.essentialvermeer.com/timelines/timeline_vermeers_life_4.html

http://www.essentialvermeer.com/cat_about/necklace.html

http://www.bibliotecadigital.ufmg.br/dspace/bitstream/1843/ECAP-7A3H7K/1/dissertacao_mestrado_miriam_vieira.pdf