Vermeer and the Delft School (Metropolitan Museum of Art) [Hardcover]

This is a catalogue published in conjunction with the exhibition "Vermeer and the Delft School" held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, from March 8 to May 27, 2001 and The National Gallery, London, from June 20 to September 16, 2001. It is written by Walter Liedtke, Curator in the Department of European Paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York with contributions from eight other art curators and historians. This is a hefty book reflecting this monumental ehibition which includes 15 of the 35 known works attributed to Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) who spent his entire life in Delft. Other prominent 17th Century artists include Pieter de Hooch, Gerard Houckgeest and one of my favorites, Carel Fabritius, who was killed in a munitions explosion in 1654 at the age of 32. The catalogue is 640 pages containing 526 illustrations with 225 colorplates. The quality of the colorplates is good. The history of Delft and the development of "The Delft School" is thoroughly researched. In addition to the artists mentioned there are many beautiful paintings by artists who are relatively unknown. This is a catalogue where the interested reader will spend the rest of his life perusing. There is much to be mined here. The exhibition is worth a journey.

This may not be the book with which to start a Vermeer trek. But it is one to savor mid-way on the journey. And it's a fitting coda for the many books on Vermeer published since the wonderful Washington/The Hague exhibition in 1995-1996. Walter Liedtke comprensivley and colorfully provides context for Vermeer's style, technique, and themes. For all his erudition, however, Liedtke doesn't explain Vermeer's genius, which is sui generis. The combination of painterly skill, scientific observation, poetic insight, and musical/theatrical nuance all seem perfectly coordinated in this Delft Master. That Vermeer made rather extensive use of the camera obscura to inform his work is without doubt (see Philip Steadman's Vermeer's Camera), although Liedtke continues even now to insist he did not. Nonetheless, as Liedtke exhaustively details, Vermeer could not have been Vermeer without the cultural milieu in and around The Netherlands in the seventeenth century.

The quality of the hundreds of illustrations included in the book, especially those which reproduce Vermeer's paintings, is extraodinary; the cover reproduction of Vermeer's Art of Painting is alone worth the price of the volume. Note particularly the pairing of The Girl with a Pearl Earring and the Study of a Young Woman (making a good case for pendant status), as well as perhaps the best reproduction ever of The Girl with a Red Hat (although it is somewhat over-sized).

Liedkte also generously provides a trove of bibliographical citations, more than enough to keep scholars busily productive well into the next generation. No serious study of Vermeer can proceed without reference to this book. Yet, it is a good read for anyone with a reasonably sophisticated knowledge of European history of that era, and will reward amatuer art historians of the Baroque period with its pinball-like associations.

Lovers of Vermeer will make this book a centerpiece in their library, returning to it again and again for information, clarification, and, most of all, aesthetic pleasure. Liedtke's opus is the next best thing to visiting the several handfuls of museums in the USA and Europe that hold Vermeer's 36 known works.

Liedtke's commentary on the works of Vermeer displays the deepest appreciation and a satisfying comprehension of the intent of the artist (as well as Vermeer's technique).

An excerpt from Liedtke's words comparing the Wrightsman bequest "Head of a Young Girl" (Salon 12 at the Metropolitan) - with the more famous "Girl With a Pearl Earring" (at the Mauiritshuis) illustrates Dr. Liedtke's perceptive eye:

"...The differences between the pictures are as remarkable as the similarities.

To be sure, the Mauritshuis painting is more immediately appealing, but the Wrightsman picture is equally impressive in its naturalism and perhaps more so in its suggestion of character. The less conventional physiognomy suits the thoughtful, sideward glance and the very different smile; here is no question which young woman would have posed for Martha and which for Mary had Vermeer, some years after painting these studies, undertaken to treat again the subject of Christ's visit to the house of his cousins."

Liedtke has intuitively recognized the particular charm of the Wrightsman painting: its homely grace and implicit familial love between the artist and his subject. The girl in the painting at the Met is obviously humbled and overjoyed that the artist has deemed her "beautiful enough in his eyes" to paint her picture, even as a mere study.

In my mind, Vermeer had already conceived the Mauritshuis painting as a typological portrait before he painted the Wrightsman piece. However, before he committed to creating the Mauritshuis composition, he decided to execute a study to examine the skin tones and light effects, as well as to assess the potential for expressing an iconic portrait of beauty in period dress.

I imagine that Vermeer, for the Wrightsman work, asked one of his daughters to "stand in" for the girl who later would become the Girl With a Pearl Earring. The surprising thing about the Wrightsman painting is that it is so much more satisfying emotionally (even empathic) than is the more famous and "prettier" Mauritshuis work.

The girl in the Wrightsman picture communicates a humble joy that brings tears to my eyes whenever I view it. Though I have no children, I experience the love that Vermeer had for this homely child who must have idolized her father, the master painter.

Liedtke evidently has picked up on the special quality of the Wrightsman girl, since he pays her the subtle tribute of being fit to portray the faithful and adoring Mary in the Biblical story of Jesus, Mary and Martha. I find this suggestion to be particularly apropos.

If anyone in the world understands and correctly interprets Vermeer, it is Dr. Liedtke. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a treasure in him. Any of his books are well worth the price.