Eye Candy for Today: Metsu’s Woman Reading a Letter

Comments

5 responses to “Eye Candy for Today: Metsu’s Woman Reading a Letter”

1. 

   Melissa

   January 3, 2016

   Thanks for sharing this, I would have picked it for Vermeer, although it’s lighter and brighter than many/most of his. The rendering of all the fabric is amazing.
2. 

   David J Teter

   January 4, 2016

   Fascinating, thanks Charley. I never knew Vermeer was not well known or valued in his day.
   1. 

      Charley Parker

      January 4, 2016

      I think he was valued in his own time, but fell into relative obscurity after his death.
3. 

   Ben Steward

   January 15, 2016

   Vermeers talent as so underestimated in his own time… it stills leaves me wondering why it is that true greatness is sometimes realised far too late (particularly in a case where the artist has passed, before their brilliance is realised).
   1. 

      Charley Parker

      January 15, 2016

      I think a big factor is that the value ascribed to certain aspects of art changes with the era. Just as styles changed, so did the expectation for what makes a work or an artist great. The most popular artists in the 19th century are barely a footnote in the art history books written in the 20th century. I suspect many of the 20th century “greats” will be reduced to footnotes in centuries to come.