INORMALLY scan through the week’s television programmes to record movies and documentaries that I would watch (minus the advertisements) at a later date. One of the recent ones that caught my attention was Vermeer, Beyond Time aired over RTE (Raidió Teilifís Éireann) in conjunction with the exhibition of Johannes Vermeer’s works which runs from June 17 till Sept 17 at the National Art Gallery in Dublin.
Vermeer perhaps is most famous for his painting entitiled The Girl with a Pearl Earring, which is a tronie of a girl with a headscarf and a pearl earring. Today, together with the old masters, he is much treasured and well known but not surprisingly, relatively undiscovered during his time — the short-lived Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century.
So, I purchased a ticket and walked through the halls trying to absorb the magnificence of the works of the masters that hung on the walls. Besides Vermeer’s paintings, there was also a great collection of works done by Gerrit Dou, Caspar Netscher, Frans van Mieris, Gerard ter Borch, Jan Steen and others.
Art is imaginative and sensitive at the same time — the way light and colour interplay to evoke different perspectives across similar themes.
As I listened to the recorded description of each painting, I couldn’t help feeling that I was in the very room itself where the artist was trying to capture that smile, that side glance and that movement of the eye. It was like a privileged intrusion into the world and life of the master and observing the cultured women, the maids and the curious minds of learned men. It was peeking into domestic interior scenes of middle-class life of another era.
It is difficult for me to choose a favourite. But I really like The Lacemaker. According to the art historian Lawrence Gowing, “The achievement of Vermeer’s maturity is complete. It is not open to extension: no universal style is discovered. We have never the sense of abundance that the characteristic jewels of his century gives us, the sense that the precious vein lies open, ready to be worked. There is only one Lacemaker: we cannot imagine another. It is a complete and single definition”.
To me, the allure of art can best be enjoyed alone or with a like-minded companion. It is a form of meditation, evoking feelings and responses hidden in the recesses of your soul. You can leave the snarky and angry world outside and imbibe the enriching quiet education.
It’s totally different from viewing art over the Internet which I liken to looking at a rainbow through the windowpane instead of being outdoors and enjoying its full essence.
I know what it is like not to be recognised for what you are worth. It is often said that a prophet is not accepted in his own town — Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Georges-Pierre Seurat are victims, among others.
Coming from the Delft, Vermeer too had moderate publicity and sank into obscurity after his death. His works were largely overlooked by art historians for two centuries after his death. He was rediscovered in the 19th century by Gustav Friedrich Waagen and Théophile Thoré-Bürger, who attributed 66 pictures to him in an essay, although only 34 paintings are considered his today.
I know what it is like to live in limited means. Vermeer was evidently not wealthy as he left his wife and children in debt at his death at 43. He used expensive pigments and produced relatively few paintings because he was meticulous in his work and sometimes even taking time to paint over his original images when he felt that less is more.
I know what it is like for your works to be “claimed” by others. Some unscrupulous dealers apparently painted over Vermeer’s signatures on his paintings. They then forged the signatures of more renowned artists on his art in the hope of getting higher prices.
This was my second visit to the National Art Gallery in Dublin and I thought that the whole exhibition was very well done. As I was leaving the hall, a friendly staff approached me and asked me what I thought about the exhibition.
I told him how I felt and asked if he had seen it himself. He said he had been working there for the past 30 years and knew every nook and cranny of the gallery. We exchanged pleasantries and before I took leave, he asked: “Are you single or married?”
“Married,” I said with a smile.