Visual Culture Studies : Vermeer and Rembrandt

I am looking at the work of Vermeer and Rembrandt and seeing how they captured light in their work.

I shall start with Vermeer. He wasn’t doing great in the world of art, as it was a very competitive industry to be in at the time. It wasn’t until he decided that he needed a really good piece of work to show to potential commissioned based costumers that he created his masterpiece ‘The Art Of Painting’. Even though he was living poorly with 11 children and the painting was worth a great deal he refused to sell it.

‘The Art Of Painting’ made Vermeer stand out from other artist as he managed to capture the reality of light in the painting. He picked up on the way light flooded through the window and lighted his subjects and every detail of the room. There was also the way he noticed how the light caused shadows, and how deep or shallow the light would make the shadows. This was a new thing in this age of painting and was the most realistic thing there would have been to a photograph. What’s more is that he even had things in and out of focus and that got people today thinking did he use a projector and if he did then the room and everything in it would have been real. But then there is the argument that he was an extremely poor man and he couldn’t afford barley anything in the painting.

Rembrandt worked to a huge scale as he could afford the materials and this became appealing for wealthier people to cover plain walls. The main thing though that Rembrandt is famous for is he lighting technique which is probably known by nearly every artist going. This is where you light the subjects face with one light and you cast a shadow across the opposite side of the face leaving one highlighted triangle under the eye. Its extremely flattering as the rest of the shadow blankets one side of the face falling down the middle of the lips and showing the curves on the face.

The similarities between the two painters was that they both manages to pick up on the realistic likeness in their work and that they were aware of shadows and highlights and how they created true likenesses at the time which would be remarkable to see in them days.

How have they both influenced todays culture? You can see both of there styles around today for example Vermeer his work of 'The Girl With The Purl Earring' has been made into a film with Scharlott Johnson and appears in other films such as St Trinians and Mr bean. Let alone been remade in lots of different styles. And Rembrandt famous lighting technique can been seen on a great deal of portraits and is used everyday.