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n All I could tell them about were his paintings.n
You know the Doctor Who episode with van Gogh? I always wondered what would've happened if Amy had stayed back with can Gogh. Intimacy can take different forms. Intimacy can mean different things. The difference of a few centuries definitely changes how intimacy is perceived. I have thought about how artists of the days of yore got their inspiration. I have also wondered about the kind of relationship they shared with their muses - with the men, and especially women who were made to sit or stand in the same position for days, months, years, so that the world's next great masterpiece could be produced.
The Girl with a Pearl Earring is a fictionalised report of an artist's relationship with his muse. Of all the Dutch artist's great paintings, the eponymous one is the best known, and in this book, Chevallier spins a wonderful, gripping story about the girl herself.
n We've already lost you Griet. We lost you the moment you became a maid.n
Sixteen-year old Griet lives with her parents in Delft, in the vicinity of the now famous Johannes Vermeer. Her father, a tile painter, loses his eyesight, and by extension, his livelihood, following an accident at the kiln. Helpless, Griet has no choice but to work in the employment of Vermeer and his family - his wife Catherina, mother in law Maria Thins, and his vast brood of children, amongst whom is the psychopathic Cornelia. Thus begins a tale of longing and intimacy, the kinds of which we have read before, but remain to be fascinated by.
n If I could not work with the colors, if I could not be near him, I did not know how I could continue to work in that house.n
For his own reasons, Vermeer chooses Griet. Perhaps it was the way she arranged vegetables for the soup when they just met, sorting them by colour; perhaps it was her big round eyes and her innocent beauty. Most likely, it was a combination of both; to say he wasn't drawn to her as she was to him would be a lie. In her, whether he saw a protege, a lover, a companion, an equal...or all of these, we will never know. That is a secret that died with him. What we do know is that she made him paint faster, and for now, that's all we need to know.
n “Don’t flatter yourself, girl. He said very little about you. But it was clear enough. That he came downstairs at all and concerned himself—my daughter knew then that he was taking your side. No, he charged her with failing to raise her children properly. Much cleverer, you see, to criticize her than to praise you.”n
Girl with a Pearl Earring is wonderfully poignant, beautifully tragic, and superbly sublime. The language complements the story, its simplicity and its depth. A story which taught me that intimacy is perhaps more than what we make it to be.
You know the Doctor Who episode with van Gogh? I always wondered what would've happened if Amy had stayed back with can Gogh. Intimacy can take different forms. Intimacy can mean different things. The difference of a few centuries definitely changes how intimacy is perceived. I have thought about how artists of the days of yore got their inspiration. I have also wondered about the kind of relationship they shared with their muses - with the men, and especially women who were made to sit or stand in the same position for days, months, years, so that the world's next great masterpiece could be produced.
The Girl with a Pearl Earring is a fictionalised report of an artist's relationship with his muse. Of all the Dutch artist's great paintings, the eponymous one is the best known, and in this book, Chevallier spins a wonderful, gripping story about the girl herself.
n We've already lost you Griet. We lost you the moment you became a maid.n
Sixteen-year old Griet lives with her parents in Delft, in the vicinity of the now famous Johannes Vermeer. Her father, a tile painter, loses his eyesight, and by extension, his livelihood, following an accident at the kiln. Helpless, Griet has no choice but to work in the employment of Vermeer and his family - his wife Catherina, mother in law Maria Thins, and his vast brood of children, amongst whom is the psychopathic Cornelia. Thus begins a tale of longing and intimacy, the kinds of which we have read before, but remain to be fascinated by.
n If I could not work with the colors, if I could not be near him, I did not know how I could continue to work in that house.n
For his own reasons, Vermeer chooses Griet. Perhaps it was the way she arranged vegetables for the soup when they just met, sorting them by colour; perhaps it was her big round eyes and her innocent beauty. Most likely, it was a combination of both; to say he wasn't drawn to her as she was to him would be a lie. In her, whether he saw a protege, a lover, a companion, an equal...or all of these, we will never know. That is a secret that died with him. What we do know is that she made him paint faster, and for now, that's all we need to know.
n “Don’t flatter yourself, girl. He said very little about you. But it was clear enough. That he came downstairs at all and concerned himself—my daughter knew then that he was taking your side. No, he charged her with failing to raise her children properly. Much cleverer, you see, to criticize her than to praise you.”n
Girl with a Pearl Earring is wonderfully poignant, beautifully tragic, and superbly sublime. The language complements the story, its simplicity and its depth. A story which taught me that intimacy is perhaps more than what we make it to be.
