Vermeer: Harmony and Order

Johannes Vermeer - “The Girl with the Red Hat” - c. 1665 - Oil on panel - 22.8 x 18 cm (9 x 7 1/16 in.) - National Gallery of Art - Washington, D.C. (click photo for larger image)Dutch artist Johannes (Jan) Vermeer (1632-1635) created paintings that are among the most beloved and revered images in the history of art. He only enjoyed moderate success during his lifetime. After his death, his paintings continued to be admired by a small group of connoisseurs, primarily in Delft and Amsterdam.

By the 19th century, a number of Vermeer’s paintings had been attributed to other, more prolific Dutch artists. However, when the French painter-critic Étiene-Joseph-Théophile Thoré (who wrote under the pseudonym William Bürger) published his enthusiastic descriptions of Vermeer’s paintings in 1866, passion for the artist’s work reached a broader public. As private collectors and public museums actively sought to acquire his rare paintings during the early years of the 20th century, prices for his work skyrocketed. This situation encouraged the production of forgeries, the most notorious of which were those painted by Han van Meegeren in the 1930s. At the end of the 20th century, Vermeer’s fame continued to rise, fueled in part by an exhibition of his work held in 1995–96 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and at the Mauritshuis in The Hague. The exhibition also drew public attention to the painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring” (c. 1665), which was featured on the National Gallery’s promotional materials and quickly became one of Vermeer’s most famous pieces by the turn of the 21st century.

Although only about 36 of his paintings survive, these rare works are among the greatest treasures in the world’s finest museums. The remarkably small oeuvre of the artist has only increased in popularity across generations. Vermeer found beneath the accidents of nature a realm infused with harmony and order, and, in giving visual form to that realm, he revealed the poetry existing within transient moments of human existence. (Excerpted from Britannica Online)

"The Girl with the Red Hat" is small even by Vermeer's standards; it is his only known work that was executed on wood panel and, most importantly, its immediacy and intimacy contrast sharply with the meditative mood of the artist’s other paintings. Despite its modest dimensions, a strong visual impact results from the large scale of the girl. Brought close to the picture plane, she communicates directly with the viewer. Her direct gaze and slightly parted lips impart a sense of spontaneity and anticipation. (Excerpted from The Artchive)