ARTS
Getting to know Vermeer
Martin Bailey visits exhibitions which coincide with the great retrospective Johannes Vermeer has opened in The Hague to the deserved fanfare. Not for three centuries have so many of the artist's rare works been assembled — 22 out of his 35 pictures — and the Mauritshuis show has been universally acclaimed. But since so few of his paintings survive and little documentation has been discovered about his artistic career, Vermeer remains one of the most mysterious of the Old Masters. This makes it particularly welcome that a series of smaller exhibitions is being held at other venues in and around The Hague in an attempt to place Vermeer in context. Understandably overshadowed by the ret- rospective (and virtually ignored by the British press), these other shows should not be missed by anyone fortunate enough to secure a ticket for the Mauritshuis.
Delft Masters is the most revealing of the exhibitions being held to coincide with the Vermeer retrospective. Covering the years 1645-75, it gives a deep insight into the work of Vermeer's fellow artists. Eighty pictures are at Delft's Prinsenhof Museum, housed in a 15th-century convent, and never before have so many of the finest paintings by his contemporaries been assembled. Seeing them hanging together is a vivid reminder that the town's 20,000 citizens supported an impressive group of painters who tackled a wide range of sub- jects.
The Delft artists delighted in using light and perspective to create illusionistic scenes. The pictures of church interiors by Emanuel de Witte and Gerard Houckgeest are dominated by rows of columns, which give a sense of space. Carel Fabritius, con- sidered by some to be Vermeer's teacher, is represented in the show by his panoramic street scenes depicting a musical instru- ment seller and a view of the New Church. The explosion of Delft's powder store in 1654, which devastated much of the town (and killed Fabritius), led his colleague Egbert van der Poel to capture the dramat- ic effects of fire.
Above all, however, it is Pieter de Hooch's scenes of everyday life in the houses and courtyards of Delft which reflect interests closest to Vermeer's work. Some of de Hooch's atmospheric pictures depict carousing soldiers seducing inebriat- ed young ladies. Others portray domestic tranquillity, with women engaged in house- hold tasks, often with a child. De Hooch's handling of light, lucid spatial effects and warm colours help convey a feeling of serenity. Art historians have debated the impact that de Hooch and Vermeer exert- ed on each other. In the mid-1650s it was probably de Hooch who influenced Ver- meer, but by the end of the decade Ver- meer had clearly emerged as the greater master. Seventeen of de Hooch's paintings are on show at the Prisenhof, a vivid reminder that Vermeer was not a totally isolated genius, but was affected by what was being done around him.
Three other exhibitions in The Hague also help to put Vermeer into context. Dutch Society in the Age of Vermeer at the Historical Museum challenges the romantic misconception that the artist always led an impoverished life and was shunned by Delft society. It has long been known that Vermeer was twice elected an official of the artists' guild, but further research reveals that he also served in the local mili- tia, a regiment whose ranks were filled by well-to-do burghers. It may seem difficult for us to imagine Vermeer in his military garb, but an inventory compiled after his death records that he owned a breastplate, helmet and pike. The Historical Museum exhibition portrays Vermeer as a social climber who played his trump-card when he married Catharina, the daughter of a wealthy Catholic family. Although Ver- meer ended up deeply in debt at his death in 1675, this was not so much a reflection A view of Delft, with a musical instrument seller's stall' by Carel Fabritius of his failure as an artist but more the result of the general economic situation. Three years earlier the Dutch Republic was at war with France and 1672 became known as the Year of Disaster. From then on Vermeer, who had 11 children to sup- port, does not seem to have sold a single picture.
The Scholarly World of Vermeer at the Museum of the Book in The Hague explains how scientific developments are reflected in his paintings, particularly the artist's interest in cartography and perspec- tive. Maps and globes feature in seven of Vermeer's pictures of interiors, represent- ing a symbol of knowledge and also a refer- ence to the outside world. Perspective played a crucial role in the creation of his illusionistic scenes. New research has rebutted the established theory that Ver- meer used a camera obscura, and the dis- covery of a tiny pinhole at the vanishing point of many of his paintings suggests that a sense of depth was created by the simple expedient of making radiating lines with a piece of string tied to a nail. The final show in The Hague, at the Municipal Museum, is Delftware in the Time of Vermeer, which includes pottery items such as wine pitchers and wall tiles of the type depicted in his paintings.
Undoubtedly the most intriguing of the exhibitions associated with Vermeer is that devoted to Han van Meegeren, the notori- ous forger. In the 1930s and 40s, he suc- ceeded in creating a series of Vermeers which deceived everyone from the revered Dutch art historian Dr Abraham Bredius to Nazi propaganda chief Hermann Goring. His work was proudly hung in both the Rijksmuseum and Rotterdam's Boymans Museum. It was only after the war, when van Meegeren was charged with collabora- tion over selling 'The Adultress' to Goring, that he finally admitted his responsibility for creating nine fakes in the supposed style of the young Vermeer.
Han van Meegeren at Rotterdam's Kun- sthal provides a fascinating insight into the 20th-century views on Vermeer. Between the wars scholars were convinced that Ver- meer had in his early years completed a number of religious works which had sub- sequently been lost. Van Meegeren set out to fill this gap. Since he was unmasked, most of the fake van Meegerens are nor- mally hidden away as curiosities, but seeing them hanging together for the first time at the Kunsthal emphasises quite what terri- ble pastiches they really are. It now seems incredible that they were ever accepted, but it is nearly always the case that forgeries fail to survive the test of time. Perhaps the van Meegeren exhibition could only be held in an unusually open society such as The Netherlands; one suspects that a major British institution would not have the courage to flaunt the mistakes of the country's leading art historians so soon after they were fooled.
The final way to see Vermeer in his con- text is to visit his native Delft (just half an hour from the Mauritshuis, by the number 1 tram). Delft, or at least its centre, remains very much as it was in 1660 when Samuel Pepys described it in his diary as 'a most sweet town, with bridges, and a river in every street'. Peering into the windows of the gabled houses that line its canals, one is continually reminded of the interiors of Vermeer's pictures. The bustling market square (Thursday is market day) is still dominated by the Renaissance town hall at one end and the 14th-century New Church at the other, symbols of worldly and spiri- tual power. Facing the square was the tav- ern run by Vermeer's parents, where the artist spent his childhood and early mar- ried years, presumably helping out at the bar. Just behind the tavern (rebuilt a cen- tury ago) is the narrow canal and houses of Voldersgracht, which was until recently assumed to be the site depicted in Ver- meer's 'The Little Street'.
Art historians have long searched old maps of Delft in an attempt to identify the two houses which feature in 'The Little Street', but no place precisely matches the picture. Although Vermeer's townscape appears highly realistic, it now seems that it was crafted by the artist, combining dif- ferent architectural elements he found in the back streets around the market square. In 'The Little Street', as in his paintings of elegant interiors, Vermeer captured the illusion of reality not by simply painting what lay before him, but by the much more imaginative process of manipulating what he saw in the real world.
Johannes Vermeer at the Mauritshuis and the associated exhibitions all run until 2 June. Advance booking is advised for the Mauritshuis. For further information, con- tact The Netherlands Board of Tourism. Tel: 0891 200277.
'I heard you were looking for a nanny.'
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