A new biography of Johannes Vermeer, the renowned 17th-century Dutch painter, attempts to shed light on one of art history's most mysterious figures. Andrew Graham-Dixon's "Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found" explores the life and work of an artist who famously seemed to disappear from his own paintings, creating intimate interior scenes that continue to captivate audiences centuries after his death.
Vermeer's enduring appeal was dramatically illustrated by Marcel Proust in his novel "In Search of Lost Time," where the fictional writer Bergotte dies after becoming overwhelmed by the beauty of Vermeer's "View of Delft" (1659-61). In the scene, Bergotte fixates on "a little patch of yellow wall" in the painting, thinking "That is how I should have written... made my sentences precious in themselves." This literary testament to Vermeer's power proved prophetic - the 2023 blockbuster exhibition of Vermeer's paintings at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam attracted a record-breaking 650,000 visitors.
The intensity of enthusiasm for Vermeer's work remains surprising given his understated style. Unlike his famous Dutch contemporaries Rembrandt and Van Gogh, who stared out at viewers from countless self-portraits, Vermeer painted quiet interior scenes of softly illuminated figures engaged in everyday activities like pouring milk or sewing. This subtlety led to him being largely overlooked in the centuries following his death in 1675, but these same characteristics are precisely what make him revered today.
Graham-Dixon, an established biographer and art critic, attempts to return Vermeer to the center of his own artistic narrative. He argues that a coherent worldview - tolerant, open-minded, fervent but non-dogmatic - can be derived from Vermeer's canvases. The author creates a rich portrait of the worlds Vermeer inhabited, from the chaotic upheavals of the wider Dutch Republic to the local environment of Delft where the artist lived and died.
The biography pays particular attention to Vermeer's remarkable relationship with his patrons, Pieter Claesz van Ruijven and Maria de Knuijt. Over a 12-year period, Vermeer painted exclusively for this couple, and the majority of his small body of work hung in their house in Delft. Graham-Dixon's depiction of the Dutch world - with its industriousness and prosperity punctuated by religious strife and warfare following 80 years of war with Spain that ended in 1648 - provides compelling historical context.
However, the biography faces significant challenges when interpreting Vermeer's actual paintings. With a life poorly documented even by 17th-century standards, largely because his art was admired only in small, private circles, Graham-Dixon must rely heavily on speculation and inference. The problem, according to reviewer Joe Moshenska, a professor of English literature at Oxford University, is that Graham-Dixon repeatedly presents his interpretations as definitive solutions to artistic mysteries.
The most problematic example involves Vermeer's masterpiece "The Lacemaker." Graham-Dixon focuses on the sewing cushion in the painting's left foreground, from which unfurl skeins of red and white paint that "wouldn't be out of place on a Jackson Pollock canvas." However, he interprets this as clear evidence that the woman is pregnant, describing how "while the girl is working away at her little piece of lace... another far finer piece of lace is taking shape within her body."
Critics argue that such definitive interpretations miss the point of Vermeer's genius. The "glowing combination of opacity and specificity" that draws viewers to Vermeer's canvases is precisely what should resist simple explanations. When biographers claim to solve these visual mysteries once and for all, they risk extinguishing the very qualities that make the paintings extraordinary.
Despite these interpretive missteps, Graham-Dixon's biography is well-grounded in scholarship and features lively, adroit writing. The book successfully recreates the historical context of Vermeer's world and provides intriguing insights into his unique patronage relationships. However, it lacks what Moshenska identifies as "the most elusive and characteristic feature of Vermeer the artist: tact." Published by Allen Lane at $30 for 416 pages, "Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found" offers valuable historical context while struggling to capture the subtle mystery that makes Vermeer's art timeless.
