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Lawrence
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Boston Public Library
VERMEER
VERMEER
by
LAWRENCE GOWING
University of California Press
Berkeley Los Angeles
University ofCalifornia Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
Published by arrangement with Giles de la Mare Publishers Ltd.
Copyright © 1952, 1970, 1997 byJenny Gowing
Lawrence Gowing is hereby identified as author of
this work in accordance with Section 77 ofthe
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Gowing, Lawrence.
Vermeer / by Lawrence Gowing.
256 p.22.3 cm.
Originally published- London: Faber and Faber, 1952.
Includes bibliographical references and Index.
ISBN 0-520-21276-2 (alk. paper)
1. Vermeer,Johannes, 1632-1675. 2. Painters-Netherlands-
Biography. 1. Vermeer,Johannes, 1632-1675. 11. Title.
ND653.V5G6
1997
759-9492-dc2i
[B] 97-20774
CIP
Printed in Hong Kong
by Colorcraft Limited
987654321
BR BR
ND653
.V5
G6
1997
PREFACE
There are writings on art which are destined to remain valid, even when the
evidence on which they were originally based has meanwhile been revised or
expanded. One thinks of Walter Pater's essay on Giorgione, or Jakob
Burckhardt's Recollections of Rubens, works of art in their own right which
have vitally contributed to our perception ofthese masters. Lawrence Gowing's
monograph on Vermeer of 1952 belongs to this class. No doubt the intensity of
his personal response stems from his own experience as a painter who was deeply
committed to the contest with appearances. Thus Vermeer's art that had looked
to earlier observers like the cool and objective record ofvisual truth was sud-
denly revealed to us in all its emotional complexity. This multi-layered reading
of the oeuvre surely remains unaffected by the progressive expansion of our
knowledge that has occurred in the intervening years.
There are two such events in what the Italians would call the fortuna critica
ofVermeer, which must here be mentioned. The first is the publication in 1989
ofthe book by Montias, whose archival studies have completely transformed our
knowledge of the artist's milieu. We are lucky to have Gowing's reaction and
assessment of this remarkable contribution in a review he wrote for the Times
Literary Supplement, which has been included in this volume. Sadly, he did not
live to experience Vermeer's ultimate apotheosis in the 1995-6 exhibitions of
Washington and The Hague, which not only attracted enormous crowds but
also left a permanent record in the form ofa scholarly catalogue, in which the
problems ofattributions inevitably were once more aired. The two problemat-
ic works in Washington, A Girl with a Red Hat and A Girl with a Flute, also
puzzled Lawrence Gowing, who had difficulties in making up his mind. Like the
authors of the catalogue, he finally accepted the authenticity of the first, but
questioned the second.
Art lovers may also remember, gratefully, that in the last years of his life,
v
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Gowing added to his accomplishments the production of a series of television
films on artists close to his heart. His programme on Vermeer is now also com-
mercially available as a video, but for all the stimulation we owe to these new
media, the old Latin tag scripta manent still applies.
London, December 1996 E. H. Gombrich
vi]
CONTENTS
PREFACE BY PROFESSOR SIR ERNST GOMBRICH page v
COUNTERFEITER OF GRACE:
REVIEW BY LAWRENCE GOWING OF
VERMEER AND HIS MILIEU: A WEB OF SOCIAL HISTORY
BYJOHN MICHAEL MONTIAS
8
RELEVANT LITERATURE PUBLISHED SINCE
1970 14
I
JOHANNES VERMEER OF DELFT
17
NOTES
68
II
THE PICTURES, A LIST AND A COMMENTARY
75
INDEX
159
PLATES
afterpage 160
[vii]
PUBLISHER'S NOTE TO THIRD EDITION
(1997)
We are delighted to be reissuing Lawrence Gowing's Vermeer as a paperback for
the first time in this third, updated edition. Jenny Gowing, his widow, has said
that Lawrence Gowing told her he considered it to be his most important work.
That judgment is all the more remarkable when one takes into account the
multiplicity and outstanding quality ofhis work overall.
Lawrence Gowing's view of the state of Vermeer studies shortly before his
death in 1991 is conveyed in a substantial piece he wrote for the Times Literary
A
Supplement about Vermeer and His Milieu: Web ofSocial History by J.M.
Montias, which we have included. To bring the book up to date, changes in the
ownership ofpictures since 1970 have been incorporated and a briefbibliography
of relevant literature published since that date has been added. The illustrations
have been freshly reproduced direct from photographs.
We are extremely grateful to Professor Sir Ernst Gombrich for contributing a
preface to introduce the book to a new generation ofreaders.
AUTHOR'S NOTE TO SECOND EDITION
(1970)
In this new edition no attempt has been made to alter or enlarge the view ofthe
artist that the book recorded. Changes in the ownership ofVermeer's pictures are
noted and a number ofmistakes have been corrected. The opportunity has been
taken to illustrate and list a further work which appears to be from his hand,
perhaps the latest that we know (Plate 80). The essay that prompted the present
study and continual help were due to Benedict Nicolson, and this book is
dedicated to him. The writer owes much beyond thanks to the generous help of
many friends, in particular to John Pope-Hennessy, Sir Kenneth Clark, E.H.
Gombrich, and Adrian Stokes in England, and in Holland to H. Gerson, S. G.
Gudlaugsson and, most tolerant oflisteners, Professor Van Regteren Altena.
viii
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