Even 350 years after his death, Johannes Vermeer remains an inexhaustible source of fascination for art lovers and researchers alike. Closer to Vermeer provides a captivating analysis of research conducted during and after the Rijksmuseum’s blockbuster 2023 Vermeer exhibition.
The book reveals new insights into Vermeer’s creative process, materials, and painting techniques, exploring the meaning of his works and his evolving fame. It also addresses intriguing questions about the maps in his interiors, the role of the camera obscura, his choice of materials, and newly discovered documents about his patrons.
Richly illustrated, this book offers both art historians and passionate art lovers a unique glimpse into Vermeer’s life and work and serves as an essential reference for future research on Vermeer.
Reviews
The 2023 Vermeer exhibition (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) produced much new material about the artist's social and intellectual contacts, painting process, and iconography. This volume of 24 chapters by many internationally recognized experts presents these discoveries and interpretations, revealing much about the artist, his family, and his patrons… These wide-ranging studies are state-of-the-art on the artist.
— Choice
Presents technical research conducted around the time of the Rijksmuseum’s landmark 2023 exhibition in a large-format package, allowing readers to see things impossible to discern in a crowded museum space.
— The New Criterion
Contributors
Ige Verslype
Author
Ige Verslype has been working as a paintings conservator at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, since 2004.
Abbie Vandivere
Author
Abbie Vandivere is a paintings conservator at the Mauritshuis, and was previously head researcher for the technical examination of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring.
Dorothy Mahon
Author
Dorothy Mahon is the Walter Burke Conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Irma Boom
Designed By
Irma Boom is a Dutch graphic designer who specializes in bookmaking. Often described as the “Queen of Books,” she remains the youngest ever recipient of the Gutenberg Prize.
