Johannes Vermeer by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.

Swillens, Johannes Vermeer: Painter of Delft, 1632–1675 (Utrecht, 1950), 65 Albert Blankert, Rob Ruurs, and Willem L. The attribution of Girl with the Red Hat to Vermeer has been doubted by Frithjof van Thienen, Jan Vermeer of Delft (New York, 1949), 23. Although widely loved, the work’s attribution has proved problematic.

Girl with the Red Hat has long puzzled scholars of Johannes Vermeer. Only in the late 19th century did Vermeer achieve widespread fame for his intimate genre scenes and quiet cityscapes. Although he was well regarded in his lifetime, he was heavily in debt when he died in 1675. There is no documentation of his artistic training or apprenticeship, but in 1653 he became a master in the Saint Luke’s Guild in Delft he would serve as head of that guild four times in the 1660s and 1670s. He then used the intensity of the white cravat to unify the whole.įollowing in his father’s footsteps, Vermeer also was an art dealer in Delft. Vermeer concentrated the two major colors in two distinct areas: a vibrant red for the hat and a sumptuous blue for the robe. The artist’s exquisite use of color is this painting’s most striking characteristic, for both its compositional and its psychological effects. Girl with the Red Hat is portrayed with unusual spontaneity and informality. The girl has turned in her chair and interacts with the viewer through her direct gaze. Girl with the Red Hat is one of Johannes Vermeer’s smallest works, and it is painted on panel rather than on his customary canvas. The painting has a soft, hazy look, and light glints with bright white specks off the pearl earrings, the tip of her nose, her lips, and the lion finials.

The tapestry behind her is painted in tones of pale caramel brown and pine green. Her arm runs along the bottom edge of the panel in front of two carved, wooden lion finials that could be the arm or back of the chair. She wears a high-collared white garment that catches the light, a royal-blue, possibly velvet, robe or overcoat, and large, teardrop pearl earrings. The wide brim of the red hat seems to be made of a soft, almost feathery material, and it casts a shadow across her face. She has a rounded nose, rather flat cheeks, and a sliver of teeth is visible through parted coral-pink lips. She sits with her body facing our right in profile but she turns her face to look at or toward us with dark eyes. Shown from the elbows up, a young person with pale skin and brown hair wearing a wide, scarlet-red hat sits in front of a tapestry in this vertical portrait painting.

Johannes Vermeer by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.