Category Archives: THE VERMEER WOMEN

Vermeer: Portraits of A Lifetime explores the life of the world famous Dutch artist, Johannes Vermeer. This book reveals observations that have never before been made about his paintings, his life, his friends and his family. This website is dedicated to revealing observations about the life and paintings of Vermeer, and the women featured in his painting — his family. As you will discover in the pages of the book, and in this website, Vermeer was a family man. His paintings are filled with portraits of his wife, Catharina, and his elder daughters. He and his wife produced 15 children during his life, most of whom survived. All but one were girls.

INSIDE THE BOOK, THE VERMEER WOMEN, VERMEER REVEALED

Who Were The Women in The Paintings of Vermeer?

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Women in the paintings of Vermeer

“Exhaustive research conducted by a wide range of investigators during the 300 years since his death proves that Vermeer had no other studio outside of his home in which to paint.  The logical extension of this fact, inasmuch as Vermeer and his wife Catharina produced 15 children during his short life, what that he must have been constantly, and continually surrounded by his family in the house while he painted!  By extrapolation, is it not obvious, even at the most casual investigation, that the most readily available models for his paintings would be his own family members?   This observation is compounded and ratified by the fact that nearly every one of his surviving paintings features young women as the principle model! 

Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that Vermeer worked at home, and that he painted pictures of the women in his own family.

It is clearly documented that Vermeer had 5 daughters old enough to be the women shown in the paintings.  Also, his wife and mother-in-law, are very likely candidates to be women shown in his paintings.  A very thorough comparison of the faces of each of the women shown in his paintings reveals the obvious observation that the same women are being painted again and again. “

— Excerpted from the book, “Vermeer: Portraits of A Lifetime”, by Lawrence R. Spencer

This question, and many other unsolved mysteries of the Vermeer paintings are addressed, with proposed resolutions, in the book, “Vermeer: Portraits of A Lifetime”  (click here to visit the publisher website to learn more.)

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NEW AUDIO BOOK! VERMEER – PORTRAITS OF A LIFETIME

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I am VERY pleased to announce that the Audible.com production of my book VERMEER: PORTRAITS OF A LIFETIME has been released and is now availabe through AUDIBLE.COM.  The book narration is performed by Mr. Alan Douglas.  Here is a brief overview of the book:

“Vermeer: Portraits of A Lifetime is a revolutionary reexamination of the mystique and mythology surrounding the 17th Century Dutch Master painter, Johannes Vermeer. For the first time in over 300 years names of people who posed for his paintings are identified. An unknown portrait of Vermeer, painted by his friend, Gerard ter Borch, is exposed. This book is an empathetic retrospective, built on observations that reveal answers to dozens of speculations about his paintings, his wife, his daughters, and contemporaries who were the subjects of his art, and with whom he shared his brief life in Delft. The PDF version of this book includes full color plates of each of the remaining works of Vermeer. The paperback version contains black and white plates of each of his paintings. Researched and written by Lawrence R. Spencer, author and master oil painter who, without training, “remembered” how to paint at the age of 30.

The few existing paintings by Vermeer our priceless works of art, housed in the most prestigious art museums of the world. In July 2004 Vermeer’s painting Young Woman Seated at the Virginals’ was sold at auction for $42 million. The value of an undisputed Vermeer would likely exceed $100,000,000. The authenticity of Young Woman Seated at the Virginals is disputed which explains the relatively low sales price. Because the few authenticated Vermeers are all in museum collections , the only way to acquire a Vermeer is to steal one which happened in 1990. The Concert was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and has not been recovered.”

©2010 – 2099 Lawrence R. Spencer (P)2012 Lawrence R. Spencer

DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY FROM AUDIBLE.COM

Coming Soon on iTunes and Amazon.com

...and other stuff, ART, FREE ADVICE, LIVES, MOVING PICTURES, READING MATTER, The Real Johannes Vermeer, THE VERMEER WOMEN, VERMEER REVEALED

PAINTING LOVE AND LIGHT

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Vermeer: Portraits of a Lifetime bookThis documentary film (below), narrated by Meryl Streep, is a academic analysis of many of the paintings of the Dutch master artist, Johannes Vermeer. Throughout the film the question is asked of the “expert” commentators, all of whom are technical experts in the mechanics of oil painting, “What makes a Vermeer painting a Vermeer painting?” Ironically, none of the “experts” know the answer to this simple question. In my book Vermeer: Portraits of a Lifetime“, I reveal the simple, yet profound answer to this question.  Support independent publishing: Buy this e-book on Lulu.

Vermeer and his wife, Catharina, had 15 children. All but one were daughters. The subjects of Vermeer’s paintings are almost entirely of his wife, and daughters. Nearly all of his paintings were created in his own house, owned by and shared with his mother-in-law, Maria Thins.  The male subject of many of his paintings is his best friend and neighbor in Deft, Holland — inventor of the microscope and the camera obscura — Anthony van Leeuwenhoek. (seen in the paintings The Geographer and The Astronomer, et. al.)

Technical analysis notwithstanding, what the “experts” fail to comprehend is that Vermeer painted his beloved family members and dearest friends in his own home.  In addition to technical expertise, the visual aid of the camera obscura — which revealed the hidden patterns of light in objects — Vermeer painted love of his family, his home, his life, his personal universe.  What makes “a Vermeer a Vermeer”?  Love and Light.

I will be traveling to visit the home of Vermeer in Delft for the first time in a few weeks.  I am very much looking forward to seeing and feeling his love and light.