Only 34 or 37 (depending which curator is estimating) Vermeer's are known to exist.
In 2004, the auction record for a Vermeer $30M “A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals” and that is not considered one of his best. None have been auctioned since, if one were, perhaps $100M+
Wow - yeah, he liked motherhood apparently and didn't paint for rich people....
Portrait painters couldn't paint realism, they had to do Photoshop for their benefactors or risk the wrath of people who didn't want to know what they really looked like. :-)
A joy to read, thanks. I was given a leather bound art book from 1939 from my grandparents, with images of the paintings in color. Perhaps this was a big deal to have such a book the year The Wizard of Oz film came out in Technicolor? It's a chronological art history beginning with Bellini and ending with Fall Plowing (1931) by American painter Grant Wood.
In the writeup for The Idle Servant by Maes, the book's editor says "Pictures like this were not made to be placed in museums or described at great length in encyclopedias. Men painted them to sell them. And if they amused people, people bought them and kept them in their homes. And saw them and were amused because--look! that very thing happened to me yesterday!" So in other words, these types of scenes were relatable to the class who could afford servants and they were considered funny. While Raphael and Van Gogh painted their selfies, servants falling asleep is what upper class Dutch people in the 1600s would consider a meme.
Thanks. The two videos I added later mentioned that some of the Dutch people had moved to less religious art and valued the domestic work as a virtue. But also that servant females could be admired in a painting in a lustier way.
Agree with you on all you have written ! Thank you for your wholesome thoughts & observations!
Thanks for reading and commenting and you are very welcome!
💖Happy Valentines Jennifer! 💖
Nice post and I concur with your opinions. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks and Happy Valentine's Day to you too Anomalous Anonymous!
<3o- <- mouse
JD - An excellent topic. Happy Valentine's Day.
Only 34 or 37 (depending which curator is estimating) Vermeer's are known to exist.
In 2004, the auction record for a Vermeer $30M “A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals” and that is not considered one of his best. None have been auctioned since, if one were, perhaps $100M+
Last year, an exhibition was held with 28 Vermeers, the largest ever. https://youtu.be/M9g8abZEQfk?
This once in a lifetime exhibit was the most successful ever for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
650K visitors paid $33 = $21.5M.
A pair of resale tickets sold for $2,724 on eBay, with individual ticket resales commanding $1K
That would be $650M if all tickets suffered a scalpers fate.
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/vermeer
Four of his children had pre deceased him and he left a wife and 11 children...
when he died at the age of 43, penniless.
Wow - yeah, he liked motherhood apparently and didn't paint for rich people....
Portrait painters couldn't paint realism, they had to do Photoshop for their benefactors or risk the wrath of people who didn't want to know what they really looked like. :-)
A joy to read, thanks. I was given a leather bound art book from 1939 from my grandparents, with images of the paintings in color. Perhaps this was a big deal to have such a book the year The Wizard of Oz film came out in Technicolor? It's a chronological art history beginning with Bellini and ending with Fall Plowing (1931) by American painter Grant Wood.
In the writeup for The Idle Servant by Maes, the book's editor says "Pictures like this were not made to be placed in museums or described at great length in encyclopedias. Men painted them to sell them. And if they amused people, people bought them and kept them in their homes. And saw them and were amused because--look! that very thing happened to me yesterday!" So in other words, these types of scenes were relatable to the class who could afford servants and they were considered funny. While Raphael and Van Gogh painted their selfies, servants falling asleep is what upper class Dutch people in the 1600s would consider a meme.
Thanks. The two videos I added later mentioned that some of the Dutch people had moved to less religious art and valued the domestic work as a virtue. But also that servant females could be admired in a painting in a lustier way.