Johannes Vermeer, The Concert
ca 1664Paintings sorted by Historical period | Painter | Subject matter | Pigments used
Overview
Medium: Oil
Support: Canvas
Size: 72.5 x 64.7 cm
Art period: Baroque
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Painting
Vermeer, ‘The Concert’ is one of the several paintings depicting domestic scenes with the protagonists engaged in playing musical instruments.
The pigment analysis revealed a palette consisting of natural ultramarine, lead white, charcoal black, umber, green earth, vermilion, and madder lake.
The painting was stolen in 1990 in one of the most spectacular heists in the history of art. In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, a pair of thieves disguised as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and roamed the Museum’s galleries, stealing thirteen works of art. The paintings have not been found until this day (1).
(1) Trickey, E., Shao, Y., Helterman, J., Sweeney, C., Timpano, A., Fernandez, C. and Ducharme, J. The Gardner Heist: Who’s Got the Art?. Boston Magazine, 2016.
Pigments
Pigment Analysis
This pigment analysis is based on the work of Hermann Kühn of Doerner Institute in Munich (1).
1 White wall: lead white, charcoal black, and umber.
2 Dark neutral area: lead white, charcoal black, and natural ultramarine.
3 Yellow-green area on the left side: lead white, and green earth with small amounts of natural ultramarine, ochre, and charcoal black.
4 Dark blue area of the carpet: lead white, natural ultramarine, charcoal black with small amounts of vermilion.
5 Light blue area of the carpet: natural ultramarine, and lead white
6 Reddish-brown area of the carpet: lead white, natural ultramarine, madder lake with smaller amounts of vermilion and charcoal black.
References
(1) Kuhn, H., A Study of the Pigments and the Grounds used by Jan Vermeer, Reports and Studies in the History of Art, National Gallery of Art (Washington, 1968).
(2) Costaras, N., A Study of the Materials and Techniques of Johannes Vermeer, in Gaskell, I. and Jonker, M. ed., Vermeer Studies, in Studies in the History of Art, 55, National Gallery of Art, Washington 1998, pp. 148 – 167.
Pigments Used in This Painting
Resources
See the collection of online and offline resources such as books, articles, videos, and websites on Johannes Vermeer in the section ‘Resources on Painters‘
PowerPoint Presentations
Painter in Context: Johannes Vermeer
A richly illustrated presentation on the painting technique and pigments employed by Johannes Vermeer specially crafted for Art Education. (Number of Slides = 24)
- Each presentation starts with the basic resources on the painter such as his biography, main catalogs of his paintings, and a bibliography.
- Next, you find slides describing the painting technique of the artist and the pigments he usually employed in his work.
- The majority of the slides show examples of paintings containing the specific pigments.
Slides showing the basic resources on the paintings of the Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer.
The painting technique of Johannes Vermeer is described and illustrated in the next slides.
The majority of the slides show important examples of paintings where Vermeer employed specific pigments. The slides are organized according to the color of the pigments.
Videos
Video: 'Vermeer, The Concert' by Anne Hawley, Director of the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston
Video: 'Stolen (Trailer)' by Rebecca Dreyfus
Publications and Websites
Publications
(1) Alan Chong, “The Concert,” in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 149.
(2) Trickey, E., Shao, Y., Helterman, J., Sweeney, C., Timpano, A., Fernandez, C. and Ducharme, J. (2016). The Gardner Heist: Who’s Got the Art?. [online] Boston Magazine. Available at: http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2016/03/13/gardner-museum-heist/ [Accessed 5 Jun. 2017].
