Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer is one of the most famous and celebrated artists of the Baroque period. Vermeer is known for his depictions of domestic scenes and imagery of the middle class in the Netherlands, which was a country of great influence and inspiration for him, both in the typical Dutch domestic subjects of his paintings, as well as his play with naturalistic effects and carefully balanced compositions portraying the nature and lighting of the Dutch landscapes.
Vermeer’s compositions are breaking natural norms, exhibit a discriminated and broken form of formal composition and usages of colors that appeared in paintings of the time. His application of paint reveals masterful technical ability and time-consuming care. The prominent techniques distinguishing the artist from other painters were his use of pigments and his idiosyncratic use of chiaroscuro in portraying daily domestic scenes. Vermeer’s main focus of interest was painting women, making use of the same furniture scenery; painting in surprisingly small format with attention to detail and light.
To reiterate, the Dutch painter idealized a domestic world occupied mostly by women. Their posture, behaviors, and even expressions display the artists’ fervent sympathy and empathy towards them, as well as an evident close examination. Vermeer avidly created a connection between the viewer and the figure in the painting, casting the former the role of a spellbound voyeur.
Looking at Dan Alexander and Co’s portfolio, Vermeer’s work shines through more than one project. In On the Hummus Route Book, a photo of a Palestinian woman, purring tahini at her restaurant kitchen portrays a modern take of “The Milkmaid”. In the Caesarstone pebbles collection, we examined Vermeer’s attention and technique regarding indoor lighting, studding his use of windows, cloth and metal as diffusers and buffers of light.
Photo credit: Eilon Paz