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Title: Vermeer and the Delft School (Metropolitan Museum of Art Series)
ISBN: 0300088485
Author:
Walter Liedtke
Michiel C. Plomp
Axel Ruger
Publicate Date: 2001-03-01
Publish: 2001-03-01
List Price: $85.00
Average Customer Rating: 5.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $53.50
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Creme de la creme
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.
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2: Tongue in Cheek
Bravo to Walter Liedtke for his sense of humor, see below. The fact that 17 out of 24 did not understand his subtle comments on himself, he did write most of the book, is testimony as to lack of discernment of those who read these reviews. I have heard his lecture on the exhibition and all he says is absolutely true. Actually, his comments on himself are rather modest.
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3: A Monument to My Genius
Words cannot describe the impact this weighty volume has had on me. From the moment I held it in my trembling hands, I was hooked. The rich, carefully crafted prose is a delight to the eye and the imagination. Its author is undoubtedly a man of breath-taking vision who has reconstructed the 17th-century past with unique skills of research and analysis. His character shines through in every page and the reader cannot help but conjure up in his or her mind a dazzling image of a dark tall handsome curator with beautifully slick and greased black hair, a whiff of moustache, and sparkling gold-rimmed glasses. Every inch a man of learning. I could go on - and I will.
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4: Magnificent
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.
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