An accidental Vermeer

Art Gallery of NSW

The lady in black and white that would not move
for anyone

By Dutch Golden era women painter, Judith Leyster.

The older demographic on a Friday

There she is, Woman reading a letter by Vermeer

Every good exhibition has some kind
of a gimmick at the end for taking photos,
this one was through mirrors

A few months ago as I was flying home from London and thinking how lucky I am to have had this extra trip. However, in my travels, I have not seen any new Vermeer paintings this year. Oh well, there is always next year. A few weeks later my Vermeer google alert tells me that the Art Gallery of NSW has a new exhibition with a Vermeer from Amsterdam. What? How did this happen? Have I seen it? A quick google to establish which one, Woman reading a letter. Yeah, I have not seen it!

Then in another bizarre coincidence, out of the 100’s of books on my to-read list I ignored them all and clicked on an ad on Facebook. The book was on sale for $3 so one click and as they say, the rest is history. The book is called The last painting of Sarah de Vos and was set in Amsterdam in the golden age of Dutch Painting (the 1600’s), New York in the 1950s and Sydney in the year 2000, mainly at Art Gallery of NSW.

Fast forward a few weeks to today and I am on my way to the Art Gallery of NSW. Walking along in glorious sunshine a route I have walked often and described so well in the Sarah de Vos book. A quick stop at the ticket counter and I am in. Its the middle of the day so not too crowded and I can enjoy the exhibition, except for one lady in black and white that wants to be in front of everyone.

The paintings I enjoy the most include the key players from the book, members of the art guild and a Dutch Golden era women painter, Judith Leyster (pictures above). Until reading the book I did not even know women painters of the golden era was a thing. Finally, I lost the black and white lady and found the Vermeer. The women looks engrossed. I wonder, is the letter is from a long lost love or her mother telling her to eat better?

Moving on, the final painting is another of my favourites by Jan Davidsz de Heem, I am pleased to see it here and am even more pleased that I changed my mind this morning and did not wear the t-shirt I have printed with this painting. That's would be called a wardrobe malfunction, though it could have been a funny selfie.

So now I have seen 21 of the 34 known Vermeer paintings in the world, let's see which one is next.

Video review of the book by the publisher includes spoilers.