Exhibit Debunks Vermeer As Isolated Genius
The Art Newspaper reports: ‘The myth of Johannes Vermeer as an isolated artist, confined to his home city of Delft, looks set to be shattered. A new exhibition, opening at the Louvre on Wednesday (22 February), emphasises that he was deeply influenced by other Dutch genre painters of his time. Vermeer and Delft have until now been firmly linked in the history of art. There is little documentary evidence that the painter travelled far. Scholars (and novelists, such as Tracy Chevalier) have studied the ties between him and his fellow Delft citizens. He is often called “Vermeer of Delftâ€, to differentiate him from the landscape artist “Vermeer of Haarlemâ€. All this reinforces the idea that he was an isolated genius, only occasionally leaving his birthplace.’
