Jan Vermeer and his contemporaries

In the paintings of the “little Dutch” a special world is revealed to us - half-reality - half-symbol of the “modest charm of the bourgeoisie”: funny revels and musical evenings of Hals, Leicester, Wall, de Hoch; the magical realism of space and Fabrizius objects; Rysdahl’s landscapes filled with psychologism and fairytale mysteriousness ... But it is especially fascinated by the still frozen, as if trembling silence and peace in the few works of Jan Vermeer Delftsky. It is as if through traditionally unfinished Dutch windows or open doors we look into the momentarily frozen world of active Europeans who have stopped to look deep into themselves and ... rush further into the maelstrom of everyday affairs, making money, discovering new lands, creating new technologies.              Artists created in the face of intense competition, although there was a whole country for customers! Pictures adorned the houses not only of representatives of the ruling elite of Dutch society, but also of poor burghers, artisans, and peasants; they were sold at auctions and fairs; sometimes artists used them as a means of paying bills. The profession of the artist was not rare, there were a lot of painters, and it was necessary to create something unique and ordinary in order to entertain the public. Few of them could feed themselves with painting, many took on a variety of jobs: Stan was an innkeeper, Hobbem an excise official, and Jacob van Reisdal a doctor. And Vermeer - and innkeeper, and art dealer, and a secret messenger of Catholics.About Vermeer as the "first photographer" in painting, who worked on one painting for more than a year, the popularity of the seascape in the country that conquered all the oceans of the planet, windmills and water mills, which became Holland's business cards not without the participation of artists of the 17th century. - a new lecture, Anna Misyun, associate professor of the Department of Cultural Studies, Art History and Philosophy of Culture ONPU from the cycle "Of all the arts, the most important for us ...: Painting in the space of culture."                     Price: 100 UAH       Registration is required: https://forms.gle/mRGntFyK4cLuYDt86              By the way, in order not to miss the events of the Living Room, we recommend subscribing to our telegram channel: https://t.me/HubLivingroom