Last week Tom & I visited the Getty Center in Los Angeles. This time we were there specifically to feast our eyes on Vermeer’s Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, but anytime spent at the Getty is cause for excitement because it presents to the visitor the simply stunning combination of world-class art contained within the walls of fabulous architecture situated within breathtaking surroundings, both natural & man-made. Hyperbole? No, not a bit of it. Certainly this is the only art museum we’ve been to where I always feel tremendously – though quite happily – conflicted: Art first, or gardens first?
The day was lovely & the gardens beckoned, but on this particular visit, there were no doubts: Art was first. I just had to see that Vermeer!
Woman is indeed a painting of a woman standing in profile to the viewer & wearing a blue, cape-like jacket, its sleeves pushed back to her elbows, exposing slender forearms. Her head is bent over a neatly-creased letter that she holds firmly with both hands. It’s difficult to interpret the expression on her face because we only see one side. Her downward gaze prevents us from seeing her eyes as well, but her lips appear to be parted. Is she about to smile? Perhaps, but for now, her face is absolutely smooth, calm & free of frowns, tears or other overt signs of strong emotion.
What we do know is that we are immediately engaged by this painting because Vermeer has presented us with an intimate moment frozen in time. He achieves this quality by painting the woman as absolutely still, compact & solid: Except for her hands, nothing protrudes from the pyramidal shape formed from the top of her head to the broad horizontal base of her jacket bottom & the even broader base of her skirt. The seat of a chair in the foreground gives us yet another stable base. We are convinced that nothing is about to shift in this painting; everything is firmly placed & securely grounded.
The feeling of intimacy comes from Vermeer’s flawless composition as well. He has created a very small, shallow space that would be claustrophobic if it were not for the cool light coming into the painting from an unseen window on the left. This light bathes the upper left section of the wall behind the woman as well as her forehead, nose & hands, & the front of her jacket. And here is where the only “action” in the painting lies. The lighted areas of her jacket contain the most delicious light- & mid-valued blues imaginable as well as some fairly lively brushwork. This is as it should be for this is the painting’s center of interest: The woman’s face tilted toward the letter, her hands holding it & her gorgeous, eye-catching jacket, which provides the context for all of this.
There are more lessons to be learned from this painting. For instance, Vermeer creates a sense of visual unity by using the same blues found in the jacket throughout the painting, such as on the wall to the left of the map, in the shadows & on the finial & chairs. And just in case we fail to see the all-important letter at our first glance, Vermeer has put a fold in the paper which creates a small square of white beside the woman’s index finger & positioned directly over the much darker-valued map. We are surely bound to notice that! Then there are the characteristic Vermeer highlights – tiny dabs of light-valued pigment that enliven & bring interest to dark-valued or uneventful areas of the painting. These appear on the upholstery tacks on both chairs.
We did eventually make it outside to the Getty Center’s gardens that day to enjoy the sunshine & the spectacular horticultural art to be found around every corner. Much too soon, we had to leave & drive north. Nevertheless we knew there was yet another Vermeer waiting for us in San Francisco. All about that in my next post…