0:00 Vermeer. The Mysterious Genius of the Golden Age of Painting
3:50 Creating a graphic copy of 'The Milkmaid.' Time-lapse
8:37 Announcement of the video series 'Learning from the Old Masters
Let's take a break from fantastical creatures in this video and delve into more serious, mundane, and academic studies.
At the beginning of the video, we'll talk a bit about Vermeer, but if you're interested in the drawing process itself, jump ahead to the 3:50 time mark where I'll attempt to create a graphic copy of his famous "Milkmaid"
Vermeer's lyricism, the poetry of his images, and the compositional structure of his usually small-scale works are of an unparalleled level compared to other Dutch genre painters. In his paintings, everyday scenes, while retaining their life-like authenticity, depict a world filled with a special harmony and beauty.
He's a mysterious and somewhat unique artist, the last master of light and color in the Golden Age of 17th-century Dutch painting. We don't know what he looked like; he left behind no self-portraits or students, and information about him is extremely scarce. Art historians speculate that he might have been a student of Rembrandt himself, but there's no concrete evidence. Only about thirty of his paintings have survived to this day, by various estimates. That's just about twice the number of his children – yes, he had 15 children, four of whom died at an early age.
Vermeer worked extremely slowly and meticulously on his paintings. The amount of detail, precision in perspective — all of this led to the belief that the artist might have used a camera obscura. Especially considering his friendship with Leeuwenhoek. Debates still persist. Generally, for an artist of his caliber, there's no real need to use additional tools. If he did use a camera obscura, it might not have been to simplify the technique of painting, but perhaps for an interesting optical effect.
One of my favorite Vermeer paintings is his "The Milkmaid." To me, it appears to be one of his most harmonious and lyrical works. Fortunately, there's now a chance to meticulously study this masterpiece — on Google Arts, you can examine it down to the tiniest cracks in the colorful layer, the craquelure.
However, the best way to study a painting isn't just to observe it but to create an educational copy of it. No matter how attentive the human eye may be, only through careful reproduction do the unnoticed details reveal themselves.
So today we'll create a graphic copy of this painting. A monochrome image will allow us to study the tonal balance of light and shadow without being distracted by color, and perhaps get closer to understanding how Vermeer managed to evoke such a sense of air and pure light.
Upon examining the technique, it's revealed that alongside traditional methods, Vermeer employs a form of pointillism here, painting with tiny dots, which was quite innovative for the 17th century. Vermeer uses incredibly expensive pigments — ultramarine blue made from lapis lazuli, imported from Afghanistan, which cost an unthinkable amount of money at that time.
Recent infrared X-ray analysis showed that behind the milkmaid on the wall, there used to be a shelf with jugs, and on the right, on the floor, there was a large laundry basket, which the artist painted over
About the dramatic end of Vermeer's life, his widow revealed approximately one and a half years after his death when she appealed to the States of Holland and West Friesland for financial assistance. In her petition, she stated that her late husband, Johannes Vermeer, during the long and devastating war with France, not only failed to sell any of his artworks but also, lacking means, fell into such distress that 'every other day or so he turned from a healthy person into a dead one.' A plausible interpretation of this story suggests that Vermeer, driven to madness by his inability to earn money to support his large family and pay debts, suffered a stroke or a heart attack, which led to his death within a day or two
So ended the story of a great talent, yet to this day, we admire his "Milkmaid", forever pouring her eternal milk.
Useful links and additional information:
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-milkmaid-johannes-vermeer/9AHrwZ3Av6Zhjg
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPL7D0Ha1kQ
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