アート・建築・デザイン 絵画

デルフトを舞台に、レンブラントら同時代の画家、大家族の群像を織り上げ、神話に包まれた巨匠に肉薄する。「キャンヴァスに向かう画家を間近に見る思い」と絶賛された評伝の決定版！
【編集者よりひとこと】
フェルメールが生きた１７世紀は、日本でいえば江戸時代前期。当時は菱川師宣に代表される、風流な寛文美人図が盛りを迎えていました。感覚的にいえば、そんな昔の人なのか！　というところですが、本書では、フェルメールはまるで目の前にいるかのように感じられます。

デルフトの街を舞台に、レンブラントら同時代の多くの画家との関係、妻や義母、子だくさんの一家の生活を再現、巨匠の真の姿と名画の秘密に肉薄する。評伝の決定版。

神話に包まれた巨匠フェルメールの実像に、レンブラントら同時代の画家や大家族の群像を織り上げて肉薄する。「キャンヴァスに向かう画家を間近に見る思い」と絶賛された評伝。

Longtime New Yorker writer Bailey has been an extremely prolific critic and biographer (Standing in the Sun: A Life of J.W.M. Turner, etc.). This study of the 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer and Vermeer's times is his 22nd title. Highly dependent on books by specialist scholars like Albert Blankert and Svetlana Alpers, this overview also repeats a lot of the local color as evoked in splashy recent evocations of the Dutch Golden Age by the bestselling Simon Schama. Less posturing and operatic than Schama, Bailey constantly repeats the formulations "may have" and "might have" until the reader becomes aware of how little is still known about the mysterious Vermeer, who is widely considered one of the greatest painters ever, although only a few dozen of his works survive. Speculations even extend to humdrum details of whether or not Vermeer owned a pet, without focusing on the ultimate question of how this apparently dull and ordinary Dutchman created immortal masterpieces of art. Sometimes a little more historical context would be welcome, such as when Bailey criticizes the "ignorance" of 19th-century historian Jakob Burckhardt for dismissing untalented artistic imitators of Rembrandt, when it's generally well accepted that far too many 19th-century painters were dreary Rembrandt wannabes. The liveliest pages record the fondness for Vermeer of villains from Hitler to thieves from the IRA. Heavier on history than art appreciation, this fluent if unoriginal summing up of some current themes of Vermeer study will appeal to non-art historical readers in search of a journalistic compendium of the subject. Illus. not seen by PW. (Apr.) Forecast: With the blockbuster Vermeer retrospective more than a few years gone, and the Bailey name less in evidence on the New Yorker's pages, this book will have to rely on Vermeer enthusiasts searching it out. Yet Tracy Chevalier's popular fictionalization of the Vermeer household, Girl with a Pearl Earring (1999), shows they may do just that, and the book has few recent, generalist competitors.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the "golden age" of Dutch culture, the story of one of the world's most beloved -- and most elusive -- painters.

In the seventeenth century, industry and commerce thrived in the Dutch city of Delft, as did art and culture. In 1653, the twenty-one-year-old son of an innkeeper, the artist Jan Vermeer, registered as a master painter with the city's Guild. Vermeer married well, had many children, and enjoyed a respectable local reputation as a painter until his death in 1675. But it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that his genius was widely appreciated. Today, Vermeer's thirty-five paintings are regarded as masterpieces.

In Vermeer, Anthony Bailey presents a compelling portrait of Vermeer's life and character, long lost in history. Bailey re-creates the atmosphere of the times, introduces Vermeer's contemporaries, and portrays his domestic life in vibrant detail. Drawing on period documents and his own intense curiosity, Bailey sheds light on the science and artistry behind the glorious, almost mystical, paintings. Meticulously researched and elegantly written, Vermeer will stand as the classic work on Vermeer for years to come.
--このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

Anthony Bailey was a writer for The New Yorker for thirty-five years and has been called "one of the best descriptive writers of his generation" (John Russell, The New York Times). His twenty-one books include the novel Major Andre, two acclaimed memoirs, two books on Rembrandt, and most recently, Standing in the Sun, a biography of J. M. W. Turner. He lives in Greenwich, England.

--このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

ベイリー,アンソニー
1933年生まれ。『ニューヨーカー』の専属作家を35年間務め、数多くのノンフィクションや小説を刊行、レンブラントやターナーに関する著作でも高い評価を受けている

木下 哲夫
1950年、東京生まれ。京都大学経済学部卒業。パリ第三大学英文科履修。翻訳家(本データはこの書籍が刊行された当時に掲載されていたものです)