6 Artists Magazine October 2019
Prime ANATOMY OF A PAINTING
t
heSphinxofDelft.Thatwasthe
nicknamegiventoJohannes
Vermeer(Dutch,1632–1675)
whenhisworkwasrediscoveredin
the19thcentury,andit stillapplies
today.Wedon’tknowwherehe
learnedtopaint,orwhetherheever
leftDelft,thecityintheNetherlands
inwhichhewasbornanddied.Ifhe
madeanydrawings,theyhaven’t
beenfound,whichonlyheightens
themysteryaroundhisseemingly
perfectpaintings.Conjecturefills
thevacuumcreatedbylackofhard
evidence;thetheoryisthatVermeer
usedthecameraobscuratoaidhis
picture-makingprocess.
It’sa credibletheory,sincethe
alternatingareasofsharpandblurred
focussuggesteffectscreatedbya lens.
Vermeerandhiscontemporarieswere
familiarwiththecameraobscuraand
similartoolsthatcouldprojectimages
ontoa wallorcanvas.Theoverriding
questioniswhetherVermeer,a para-
gonoftheDutchGoldenAgeandone
ofhistory’sgreatvisualpoets,made
tracings.Thatexplanationwould
demystifytheprocessandrender
theartistmoreaccessible—ineffect
decodingthesphinx.Buttakenatfacevalue,thetheorylacksnuance,
andVermeer’spaintingsareperhaps
themostnuancedobjectsinmuseums
today.Hisnarrativesaremoresubtle
thanthoseofhiscolleagues,his
handlingofthematerialmoresophis-
ticated,hissensibilitymorerefined.
Also,hispaintingsdon’tlooklikethe
resultofa mechanicalshortcut;each
elementandeverybrush-
strokeareevidenceofdeliberation.
Manyartistshadaccesstooptical
technologies,butVermeer’sworks—
thefewdozenthatexist—arequite
distinctive.Hisbestpaintings,be
theyofa womaninherkitchen
pouringmilkorofthewaterfrontof
hishometown—takeunremarkable
momentsandmemorializethem
asrevelatoryevents.JerryN.Weissisa contributingwriter
toartmagazinesandteachesatthe
ArtStudentsLeagueofNewYork.View of Delft
by Johannes Vermeer
ca 1660-1661; oil on canvas, 38x45½Beyond Technology
Take a closer look at the mystery of VERMEER
and his masterful work through the View of Delft.by Jerry N. WeissVermeer’s paintings are perhaps the most
nuanced objects in museums today.
View of Delft is three-
fifths sky, a common
design in 17th-century
Dutch landscape
painting. This may have
been a responsetoa
generally flat landscape,
which enabled artiststo
use cloudscapesfor
dramatic impact, as well
as to evoke spiritual
implications. The clouds
are arranged in several
overlapping horizontal
bands receding toward
the horizon. The nearest
clouds are in shadow,
which lends an ominous,
if passing, note. They
also function muchlike
the sandbar inthe
foreground, providinga
frame for the townscape.Vermeer painted
Delft under the silver
half-light of the sun.
It’s a mercantile
town seenina
moment of stillness,
with an uncanny
sense of clarity.