Vermeer (Basic Art)

I started off with David Hockney's fascinating book, Secret Knowledge (New and Expanded Edition): Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters where the celebrated artist shows and explains how during a certain period, artists undoubtedly used optic tools to aid in their painting. After Hockney whetted my appetite, I bought the engaging DVD, Tim's Vermeer [DVD] [2014 ], where Tim Denison, successful inventor but not a painter, uses optics to re-create a Vermeer painting. This lead me to buy this book by Norbert Schneider, in the Taschen Basic Art Series. Please don't be put off by this book because it's one of series on different painters. I really enjoyed it, and it covers a lot of territory. Starting off with Vermeer's bio. He only painted two oil paintings a year, not nearly enough to make a living. His real money came from a wealthy mother-in-law and work as an art dealer. This book is unequivocal that Vermeer used optical equipment: "We now know that Vermeer used a camera obscura for most of his paintings. What is more, far from hiding the effects of the instrument, such as unfocused outlines and the famous pointillist dots of light, he drew attention to them." This book is full of interesting information, and it is told without jargon or tedium. For example, Vermeer made use of "cavis interpretandi". This is a painting on the background wall of a scene, not the main focus, but it gives us a clue as to how to interpret the scene depicted. Vermeer's paintings have been studied minutely. To the point of, for example, we know exactly which globe (what brand and model, to put it in modern terms) was used as a prop in his painting "The Astronomer". This book is chock full of photos. Vermeer's works are presented, mostly in full page photos. That includes "The Concert", which can only be viewed in photos now, as it was stolen from the Gardner Museum (see the incredible story in the DVD Art of the Heist ). There are also 14 full page photos of details in Vermeer's paintings, and 9 more smaller detail photos. There are also 22 small photos of non-Vermeer contemporary paintings for comparison purposes. Norbert Schneider's book on Vermeer is perfect for someone who is not an art historian and just wants to learn about the works of the "master of light". Happy Reader

This book is beautiful, and such a blessing for my father - He was a professional artist and painter for many years, and loved Vermeer. Now he has dementia, and is not very responsive to most things. But he has been emersed in this book, looking at the pictures, reading the text, and talking about it! Amazing! I know it is very difficult to reproduce Vermeers faithfully, but this book really does a good job, and for the money, it's incredible... Thank you!

The price for this is great, but the quality of the prints were quite lacking. I've seen some of these in person a museums around the world and was amazed by the detail -- you will not get that feeling from looking at thes fuzzy prints in this book.

To see this great artist in face to face or reproduction, is a thing of beauty. Wish there were more than 30 of his paintings known!

Wonderful balance of pictures and information. Love this book and of course Vemeer.

I love these Taschen books. They are very well written and are well illustrated. The printing quality is excellent. Not terribly in-depth but a great read on a summary level.

Despite what some reviewers have said, the quality of the reproductions of Vermeer’s paintings in this Taschen book is excellent. However, the author, Norbert Schneider, offers some questionable interpretations in a handful of Vermeer’s paintings that feature women. Many of his dubious interpretations involve far-fetched symbolism. For instance, he says that the bowl of fruit in A YOUNG WOMAN READING A LETTER AT AN OPEN WINDOW, “is a symbol of extramarital relations, which broke the vow of chastity.” Isn’t it possible that a bowl of fruit is sometimes just a bowl of fruit (just as a cigar is sometimes just a cigar)? In a similar moralizing vein, Schneider says of the WOMAN IN BLUE READING A LETTER, “The woman may be pregnant [granted]. If this is indeed the case, her reading the letter would be "a moral contradiction of the respectability of marriage . . . which did not allow for 'unchaste, lascivious thoughts.’” Really? What if the woman is reading a letter from a friend, or perhaps from her husband who is out of town? In the painting A LADY WRITING, the woman is wearing a yellow, ermine-trimmed jacket. What does Schneider make of this? First, he says that she is writing a love letter (How does he know that?) Further, "The inclusion of the decorative ribbons and pearl earrings is intended to show the woman’s craving to be to be smart and be admired.” This statement seems gratuitous. Of the gradations of yellow in the woman’s jacket, Schneider quotes Andrea Alciatis’s comment that “yellow is the colour which is appropriate for lovers and whores.” Of the painting WOMAN WITH A PEARL NECKLACE, Schneider says, “Vermeer is portraying the sin of vanity.” Is it not possible that the woman is just admiring the necklace? What if, for instance, the pearl necklace is a gift from her husband? In Vermeer’s incomparable THE MILKMAID, Schneider finds religious symbolism that just isn’t there. In his view, Vermeer’s contemporaries would have associated the milk the kitchen maid is pouring into the squat vessel with the “spiritual food” mentioned in a New Testament passage such as 1 Peter 2:2 (“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.”) The bread in the basket and rolls on the table, he says, are a reference to Jesus calling himself “the bread of life” (John 6:48). Viewers, then, supposedly would have found it impossible not to think of the Eucharist. Ask most art critics and they will tell you: the woman is simply making a bread pudding (albeit while beautifully poised between concentration and introspection). The interpretation I find most questionable has to do with the painting variously titled A MAID ASLEEP/A WOMAN ASLEEP/A GIRL ASLEEP. The woman (almost certainly the mistress of the house) is dozing next to a glass of wine, which suggests that she is inebriated. So, the themes of sloth and intemperance seem clearly indicated. The toppled glass at left (now eroded with time) and rumpled table carpet may indicate a recently departed guest. If the person who left the premises was a suitor, this would be a moral problem. X-ray examination has revealed that Vermeer initially included a dog in the doorway and a gentleman in the back room. Schneider suggests that the man—whom Vermeer painted out!—is the first of several “erotic elements” in the painting. The still-life of fruit represents the “fruits of evil”; the egg wrapped in cloth is a sign of “unbridled libido”; according to seventeenth-century authors, women drinking wine leads to “whoring”; a classical Latin dictum possibly known by Vermeer stipulates, “If a woman drinks wine at home, she should be punished as an adulterous.” In my opinion, Vermeer has not left the viewer with enough details to suggest eroticism. Schneider seems like a very competent art historian, but many of his interpretations should be taken with a grain of salt.

everything known about this relatively unknown artist, had at least one plate for each work, though often multiples, detail views, comparisons with the artists repetoire, precursorsvand peers, even some x-rays. Wonderfully comprehensive, easy tofollow writing...not necessary to be a pro or student to grasp the concepts. Great tome.

Görsellere bolca yer verilmiş, sanatçının hayatına ve sanata bakışına dair anlam üretebileceğiniz ingilizce kaynak eser. Vermeer eserlerini iyi işlemiş, hazırlayıcı

This book was awesome.it's condition excellent.Taschen besic art series was very interesting and enjoyable.their El Greco, Friedrich, Caravaggio,Holbein,Rodin,Turner in my on collection.and all books was very fine.it's price also under my budget. I think every art lover love this nice book about great Vermeer.

30センチあり見応えあり。ペーパーバックのほうは表紙が全面にあの絵なので普段は窓際に置くだけでもいい感じです。中古本は気が向いたら気兼ねなくパラパラと見れていいです。

SCHNEIDER, Norbert, “Jan Vermeer - Veiled Emotions”, 1994, TASCHEN, Benedict (Pub), 30cm x 23 cm, Hardcover, ISBN - 3-8228-9046-4 It is difficult to award stars to a book printed in 1994 but, avoiding judging it by today’s standards, I have awarded it five. Reading Graham-Dixon’s 2025 “Vermeer - Lost and Found” shows developed knowledge where Scheinder’s has dated but, despite this, I enjoyed it and learned from areas in which “knowledge” has advanced. Mine was a library book and it was encouraging to see the good condition in which it left the library having been read many times. This large format book - 30cm x 23cm) - has many quality illustrations, not just complete paintings but enlarged sections to make a point, other paintings/drawings by other contemporary artists, e.g. Pieter de Hooch and others and various maps, prints and drawings. Schneider’s commentary is very informative including details of Vermeer’s era, Delft, St Luke’s Guild and many other aspects of the Dutch Golden Age which help to bring Vermeer off the page. I found the last three sections particularly useful on “The Rediscovery of Vermeer, his chronology and the List of Works. Although some interpretations may seem (are) dated in the light of modern scholarship, for someone beginning Vermeer research, it will be very helpful. Schneider has researched in detail, writes in a very accessible style and has a passion for and interest in painting generally and Vermeer specifically which make the book very readable. (My ex-library books was cheap, making it all the more enjoyable.)

Where would we art lovers be without such publishers as Taschen? Their Basic Art Series is perfect beyond words, and the price is ridiculously low. So it is in the case of Vermeer. What to say about the most subtle and sophisticated painter of western culture? Rembrandt might be drama and emotion, and he certainly is, but Vermeer is beauty and intimacy. He freezes time like no other artist (makes me think of the most profound preludes by Bach), and silence is so loud in his paintings that I cannot hear anything else. With each and every one of his paintings he teaches us to pay attention to every day reality, because every moment of time is sacred. His Milkmaid pouring milk is just as sacred in doing her job as Holy Mary will ever be. And then, there is the psychological accuracy in his work as well. The Letter Reader immersed in reading the letter conveys the feeling of eternity through an ordinary moment of every day life. Just how immersed she is! Not to mention the posture and the glance of the Girl with the Pearl Earing, the painting which is justifiably called the Dutch Mona Lisa. Such category as the greatest painter of all time might be unrealistic, for there are so many who deserve that title, but in terms of skill, of handling the light and shade, the colours and sophistication, Vermeer is prominent. He is the man with a photographic eye. Five stars for the quality of reproductions and for everything else!