Detroit Institute of the Arts offers a rare opportunity to see paintings by Jan Vermeer

Rembrandt created over 400 paintings in his life, Van Gogh - more than 1200. Their compatriot, Johannes Vermeer (1632-75), wrote a total of 35. And these days, visitors to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit Institute of Arts) have a rare opportunity to see one of only 11 paintings by Vermeer in museums in the United States. The Woman Holding a Balance was leased to the museum by the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, and will be on display until September 2.

Johannes Vermeer - Woman with weights

Vermeer was a very successful artist during his lifetime, but after his death in 1675, his works were forgotten. The artist’s work was rediscovered in the mid-19th century, and now Vermeer is known as a prominent representative of the Dutch Golden Age. Most of the master’s paintings depict simple Dutch interiors, one or two human figures, usually women engaged in everyday work. He succeeded in conveying the harmony and beauty of everyday things, their structure and material, the repulsion of the play of light and shadow. Vermeer’s paintings are intimate portraits of everyday life, transmit to the viewer symbolic moral messages from the depths of centuries.

At first glance, “A Woman with Weights” depicts a simple situation when a woman works alone in a room, and, at the same time, one of the main values of Dutch society of the 17th century is to live in moderation without acquiring earthly pleasures.

Along with the painting by Jan Vermeer, the museum displays paintings by two other Dutch artists who worked at the same time. This is a painting by Peter de Hoch, “Mother Feeding Her Baby” and “Lady Behind Her Toilet” by Gerard Terboch. An exposition of these three works will allow viewers to deeply appreciate the features of the style of the artistic language of Dutch painting.

Anna Sidorova