January 02, 2004

Girl with a Pearl Earring, an in-depth study. Few masterpieces deserve to be made into a book, then a movie. Whatever you may think of them is another matter entirely.
posted by Zemat 20 years ago
  • Wow, what a find! Thank you, Zemat. It's interesting how differently the "interpreters" see the picture. Some look at it only as paint artfully applied, and others as the depiction of the "erotic" or the "pure." I suppose that's the thing about great art. And the discussion of the elements of the painting (the girl, the pearl, the clothing) was great. It must be so satisfying to paint like that.
  • Too few images bewitch me like this one. It is all that it can convey with one look. All the stuff that fires up in my mind when I see it. Unlike other portraits, the artist probably didn't forced the model to an especific expression. Something that the artist idealized days before touching the canvas. This image it's completely natural, or an excellent fake. The "Monalisa" reaches a similar threshold in naturality.
  • To restate more clearly. It's more like a casual photographic picture than a portrait.
  • To me, it's an exercise in light, at least in one aspect. As one of the reviewers said, it's as though it was painted in crushed pearls. And yet, Vermeer portrayed a living being. You almost feel as though you know her. Have you seen any of the similar portraits (my definition, not that of the site) from the same era in museums, perfectly lighted? I had the great pleasure of doing so at the National Gallery in Washington DC some years ago. They were so startlingly beautiful that they kept you in front of them until you felt you should had to move on and let someone else get the full effect. I love the Impressionists, and have seen many incredible works by them, but nothing has captured me the way these do.
  • "Taking what is, and seeing it as it is, Pretending to no heroic stances or gestures, Keeping it simple; being in love with light And the marvelous things that light is able to do, How beautiful! a modesty which is Seductive extremely, the care for daily things." [from Vermeer by Howard Nemerov]
  • Beeswacky: Yes! "Being in love with light," that's it!
  • Never having seen the original, and mesmerised by the small rendition, I searched for reproductions on the web and found this. What an expresssive face captured in that fleeting moment!
  • I'd well do her.
  • When I was studying lighting design, we studied a lot of Vermeer, so I must admit, I generally always enjoy his works (him and Caravaggio).
  • This is a very cool link, which Im coming upon more than 2 years later. Yay archive!
  • I'd forgotten what a fantastic linky this was!
  • Colin Whats-his-name was also very good in the movie. Not a bad movie altogether. Oh and Scarlett Johanssen. GrrOwrr! Oh yes and the painting. Vermeer rocks, but you gotta give the golden eye award to Rembrandt. That fucker knew light. (and . . oil painting.)
  • The first time I came to work with a scarf instead of hair, my boss called me "Girl with the pearl earring" all day.