Vermeer

JOHANNES VERMEER (1632-1675)

Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1665

Pronounced: Ver-Meer

Art Period: Dutch Baroque/Dutch Golden Age

Activity: Drawing

Materials: charcoal pencils, drawing paper, black construction paper

*Thanks to Fran Gutt for this lesson! Information below prepared by her, along with a DVD compatible with the school laptops that has a slideshow put to music (in conference room cabinet, labeled "Vermeer"). The final slide is of Girl with a Pearl Earring and the music is programmed to play with the picture on pause for 30 minutes, which should allow the kids to complete the project while enjoying lovely classical music. 

Meet the Artist: He was one of the famous artists in the Baroque period of art between the 1600's - 1700's, who focused on figures/portraits and landscapes. He lived around the establishment of the 13 colonies, and used several colonist women and men as his inspirations. During the time in 1653, the artist Johannes Vermeer, the 21 year old son of an innkeeper, registered as a master painter with the city's guild. He went on to enjoy a respectable local reputation as a painter until his death in 1675; it was not until the mid-nineteenth century, however, that his genius was widely appreciated. In fact little is known about Vermeer's personal life other than public documentation of poverty and other public hardships. Today, Vermeer's thirty-five paintings are regarded as masterpieces. Some of these famous paintings are Girl with A Pearl Earring (above), and The Milkmaid, The Lace Maker, and The Glass of Wine (these pictures are featured in Fran's DVD slideshow). 

What is Baroque? A style of architecture and art originating in Italy in the early 17th century and variously prevalent in Europe and the New World for a century and a half, characterized by free and sculptural use of the classical orders and ornament, by forms in elevation and plan suggesting movement, and by dramatic effect in which architecture, painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts often worked to combined effect.

Activity: The final slide in the slideshow is The Girl with a Pearl Earring. Pass out black paper and drawing paper and drawing pencils. With room semi-darkened, have the kids concentrate on drawing (based on the slide) this painting.

Student Work: