Well, it's Vermeer's birthday today (1632), so why not? And it's also Keats's (1795) - an autumn baby - and it's autumn (and it's even being used on a commercial, read by the inevitable Roger McGough), so again, why not? It's easy to forget that a great poem - or a great painting - that we take for granted is indeed great.
Friday, 31 October 2008
Two Greats
Well, it's Vermeer's birthday today (1632), so why not? And it's also Keats's (1795) - an autumn baby - and it's autumn (and it's even being used on a commercial, read by the inevitable Roger McGough), so again, why not? It's easy to forget that a great poem - or a great painting - that we take for granted is indeed great.
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Lovely painting. I was in the (Henry Clay) Frick museum two days ago studying a clutch of Vermeers, including "Girl Interrupted at Her Music." I was mentioning the visit to one of my brothers and he can remember going to the Frick back in 1978 when MRS. Henry Clay Frick was still alive. "Don't come upstairs, young man!" she yelled at him. She was about 90 and still lived in the mansion! (So says my bro -- he could have been pulling my leg, being my prankiest sibling.)
ReplyDeleteAh yes the Frick - I've only been to NY once in my life but the Frick (and much else) I absolutely loved - the perfect gallery, and at every turn my jaw kept dropping, esp as I was sure most of those great English paintings were in England!
ReplyDeleteI actually went to the Hague to see the big Vermeer exhib, so I've seen the View of Delft in situ. Has to be seen to be believed...
Nige, tell Brit on behalf of Bryan to sort out access to Thought Experiments. It's currently being denied.
ReplyDeleteOf course it could just be me being denied.............And sorry for butting in.
God, it's a wonderful painting - I seem to remember being told that Vermeer was a master of the camera obscura. You have reminded me, Nige, that a visit to The Hague is long overdue. I don't know what it is about Dutch 17th Century painting in all its forms, but it excites my interest like no other period. And the Frick - what a collection. I told my stepdaughter to go this half term when she is in New York. It is a joyous space and there's usually nobody else there.
ReplyDeleteNo it isn't just you Recusant. It usually rights itself...
ReplyDeleteSeems to be back now. I didn't do nuffink, honest guv. Nige - is there anything one should do when that happens, or is it just a case of waiting.
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Vermeer is stunning - makes you stop and gasp in the gallery. Caravaggio likewise.
i met a girl who claimed to be descended from Keats' sister. She was robust and hearty, a big strapping Geordie lass, disappointingly (i was expecting her to perish of consumption mid-sentence).
ReplyDeleteSorry Brit, you're asking the wrong man - I haven't the first clue about the techy side of this lark. I just wait for problems to blow over. An approach that sadly isn't going to work with my TV 'digibox' which packed up yesterday evening, just as BBC4 was about to embark on Neil Young Night. Oh well...
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