Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth behind the Masterpieces

Philip Steadman

ISBN 10: 0192803026 / ISBN 13: 9780192803023

Published by Oxford University Press, 2002

About this Item

Philip Steadman investigates the claims that the 17th-century artist, Johannes Vermeer, used the camera obscura to create some of his artwork. this study reconstructs his studio, complete with camera. He asserts that that this experimentation with new technology enabled his style to develop. Num Pages: 222 pages, numerous halftones and line drawings; 8pp colour plates. BIC Classification: 1DDN; ACQ; AFC; AGB; AJG. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 237 x 158 x 15. Weight in Grams: 356. . 2002. 1st Edition. Paperback. . . . .

Seller Inventory # V9780192803023

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth behind the Masterpieces
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0192803026
• ISBN 13: 9780192803023
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Over 100 years of speculation and controversy surround claims that the great seventeenth-century Dutch artist, Johannes Vermeer, used the camera obscura to create some of the most famous images in Western art.

This intellectual detective story starts by exploring Vermeer's possible knowledge of seventeenth-century optical science, and outlines the history of this early version of the photographic camera, which projected an accurate image for artists to trace. However, it is Steadman's meticulous reconstruction of the artist's studio, complete with a camera obscura, which provides exciting new evidence to support the view that Vermeer did indeed use the camera.

These findings do not challenge Vermeer's genius but show how, like many artists, he experimented with new technology to develop his style and choice of subject matter. The combination of detailed research and a wide range of contemporary illustrations offers a fascinating glimpse into a time of great scientific and cultural innovation and achievement in Europe.

About the Author

Philip Steadman is Professor of Urban and Built Form Studies at University College London. He trained as an architect, and has taught at Cambridge University and the Open University. He has published several books on geometry in architecture, and on computer-aided design. In the 1960s he edited and published Form, a quarterly magazine of the arts, and co-authored a book on kinetic art. He helped to produce four computer-animated films on the work of Leonardo da Vinci for an exhibition in London in 1989. He has also contributed to other exhibitions, films, and books on perspective geometry and the history of art. Vermeer's Camera is the product of twenty years' fascination with the Dutch painter.