View of Delft

Not to be confused with A View of Delft.
View of Delft
Dutch: Gezicht op Delft
Artist Johannes Vermeer
Year 1660–1661
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions 96.5 cm × 115.7 cm (38.0 in × 45.6 in)
Location Mauritshuis, The Hague

View of Delft (Dutch: Gezicht op Delft) is an oil painting by Johannes Vermeer, painted ca. 1660–1661. The painting of the Dutch artist's hometown is among his most popular,[1] painted at a time when cityscapes were uncommon. It is one of three known paintings of Delft by Vermeer, along with The Little Street and the lost painting House Standing in Delft.[2] The use of pointillism in the work suggests that it postdates The Little Street.

Painting materials

The technical analysis[3] shows that Vermeer used a limited choice of pigments for this painting: lead white, yellow ochre, natural ultramarine and madder lake are the main painting materials.[4] His painting technique on the other hand is very elaborate and meticulous.[5]

Legacy

In 2011, the painting was featured on gold and silver commemorative coins issued by the Royal Dutch Mint.[6] The painting also features in Marcel Proust's novel In Search of Lost Time. Proust himself greatly admired Vermeer, particularly a View of Delft. When seeing the work for the first time, Proust is quoted as saying:

"Ever since I saw the View of Delft in the museum in The Hague, I have known that I had seen the most beautiful painting in the world".[7]

References

  1. ↑ Slatkes, Leonard J. (16 July 1981). Vermeer and his contemporaries. Abbeville Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-89659-195-0. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  2. ↑ Montias, John Michael (1 January 1991). Vermeer and His Milieu: A Web of Social History. Princeton University Press. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-691-00289-7. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  3. ↑ Kuhn, H. A Study of the Pigments and Grounds used by Jan Vermeer. Reports and Studies in the History of Art, 1968, 154–202
  4. ↑ Johannes Vermeer, 'View of Delft', ColourLex
  5. ↑ Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and C. J. Kaldenbach, Vermeer’s View of Delft” and His Vision of Reality, Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 3, No. 6 (1982), pp. 9–35
  6. ↑ "New Coins Pay Homage to Dutch Artwork and the Old Dutch Masters". Coin Update. 15 April 2011.
  7. ↑ Townsend, Gabrielle (2008-01-01). Proust's Imaginary Museum. Peter Lang. ISBN 9783039111244.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.