Vermeer’s genre paintings depict men and women engaged in daily activities that seem familiar and related to our own lives. We greatly admire this seventeenth-century Delft artist’s ability to depict the physical reality of these scenes, whether through the shimmer of satin, the translucency of glass, or his mastery of light. Less noticed, however, is how successfully he conveyed the inner life of his figures. This talk will examine this important aspect of Vermeer’s artistic genius by examining the types of moments he portrayed and the relationships of his figures to their milieu.
Dr. Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. is Senior Advisor to The Leiden Collection. Wheelock recently retired as curator of Northern Baroque painting at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and as Professor of Art History at the University of Maryland.
Tickets are free for members and $12 for non-members. Tickets available at the door and seating is first-come, first served.
