| WorkSeven Vermeer Corners Seven Vermeer Corners, 1999
I chose these seven paintings, then cut out paper rectangles the size of the paintings, laid the stretched canvas on a table, gessoed it with a raw sienna and acrylic matte varnish. When the varnish was dry the seven pieces of paper were moved about on the canvas, and I resolved where each area should be. This arrangement has nothing to do with subject matter or dates. #1 The Glass of Wine The largest Vermeer painting, "The Glass of Wine," 25 5/8 x 30 1/4 inches, is placed at the upper left corner because with this horizontal format I feel the largest area should start there; after all, the eye starts there because of our habit of reading from left to right. This painting, Seven Vermeer Corners, is a process of reading Vermeer. In "The Glass of Wine" I am aware of how high the horizon line is when the table and the figures are gone, and consequently of how much tile floor is painted. The back wall touching the floor is always challenging because, to remain convincing, each corner of the tile must touch the wall in the same way. The rules of perspective can be pressed only so far. This painting, "The Glass of Wine," is an early painting showing some inexperience. When Vermeer painted another picture with the horizon high in the picture he made the painting vertical and slim, because perspective carried too far in a wide (horizontal) format can go awry and start the illusion of a curve. "the Glass of Wine" has darkened and there are uneven areas where the pigment has been disturbed because of cleaning and restoration attempts. It's up to me to make the values even according to the way I conclude it. # 2 The Geographer I have taken the male figure out of this painting. With him goes his table, the rug covering the table, and the maps on the table. Leaving open space at the lower part of the painting. I am creating the wall below the window at the left of the painting, and I am completing the cabinet which stands in the corner. The floor seems to be one plane surface and the tiles need to be rendered below the window. Noticing the dramatic shadow that dominates the movement in the painting (this is the main event), I have invented the diagonal shadow that crosses the cabinet. Vermeer's painting has been signed twice: once on the upper right back wall, and another time on the cabinet behind the shoulder of the male figure. While copying this rectangle I know no reason to stop painting when the composition stops and I have a liking for some visual extensions. It is reasonable to complete the chair at the right in the painting. There is hardly a reason to complete the map because it would make the composition extend too far and the visual impression would no longer automatically appear to be the Vermeer Geographer. #4 Girl Interrupted at Her Music There are three different chair types in all of Vermeer's paintings. Some might look different because of their fabric and fringes, but there are basically only three types of chair. The chair against the wall in "Girl Interrupted at Her Music" (1660-61) is the same chair found in "A Woman Asleep " (Metropolitan Museum, 1657), and in "Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window" (Dresden, 1657), and in "Officer and Laughing Girl" (Frick Collection. 1658-60). It is easy to identify because of its five diamond-shaped designs on the inside back of the chair. If this diamond shape is removed, this same type of chair is found in "The Glass of Wine" (Berlin, 1658-60), "Woman Reading a Letter" (Amsterdam, 1662-64), "Woman with a Lute (New York, 1664065), "A lady Writing" (National gallery, 1666), "Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid (Ireland, 1670-72), and "Allegory of Faith" (New York, 1671-74). In "Girl Interrupted at her Music," when the figures and the table are removed, and the chair that is against the far wall remains, the shallow space is unexpected. By using the proportions of other Vermeer chairs, and by consulting photographs from P.T.A. Swillens's book, the lower part of the chair can be reconstructed. The light source in this painting is forward of the back wall. The gauge for this is the bird cage, which catches a line of light on its most forward wooden dowels. Upon investigating this Vermeer by removing the figures and the table, my contribution is to be able to show the one chair that is touching the back wall would have light on the chair seat. #5 Woman Holding a Balance Of the seven corners depicted in my painting, Vermeer made this painting purposefully dark. He enjoyed the yellow curtain at this corner. It is depicted again in his "Woman with a Pearl Necklace." By observing other paintings by Vermeer, such as Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maidservant, where this type of curtain is used similarly at a window, I can conclude the length of the yellow curtain in "Woman Holding a Balance." The inventive contribution of Vermeer is in the delicate changes of values depicting the yellow curtain that covers the window at the left. My investigation of the corner with the figure and the table removed allows the viewer to study what, in order to establish the corner in his painting, Vermeer did. I make a complete construction of the room as though Vermeer painted it all before the figure and the table were painted. I am treating Vermeer's paintings as icons, isolating different areas, eliminating some material that makes up the paintings, so a sort of refraction, side glance, or peripheral view is seen, but also remembered. It is like reciting a poem or piece of writing, from memory, and leaving out some of the words. The essence will speak to the observer more strongly. #6 The Milkmaid It wasn't until I was far into this painting that I added the foot warmer, an arbitrary addition put in because the painting looked so barren, as though I hadn't borrowed enough images. It must look like Vermeer's painting at first glance or my theory is futile. So, now it does. Now one can realize this corner is in the back of the house where sunlight visits briefly. The window at the left is not clean, as one can see by observing a piece of glass is broken from the window. This is a certain moment when the light is dominant and is able to spread uninterrupted on the back wall. This mass of wall, showing the texture of the white wall, is the point of the painting. # 7 Woman with a Lute The color in this painting is subtle, made mostly with raw umber, yellow ochre, and restrained blue. I have concluded that it has aged in time because of the faded area of dull red which shows in the cartouche above the border on the lower part of the map. When the figure, and the table and the chair, are removed, the window is easier to see. It has been painted to be out of focus. This window is seen peripherally. Notebook 1998 to c.2001 |