Vermeer

 Originally shared Nov 2, 2016: 

Johannes Vermeer (Dutch; Baroque, Dutch Golden Age, 1632-1675): Girl with the Red Hat, c. 1665/1666. Oil on panel, 22.8 x 18 cm (9 x 7-1/16 inches). National Gallery of Art, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, Washington, D.C., USA.

"With Rembrandt and Frans Hals, Vermeer ranks among the most admired of all Dutch artists, but he was much less well known in his own day and remained relatively obscure until the end of the nineteenth century. The main reason for this is that he produced a small number of pictures, perhaps about forty-five (of which thirty-six are known today) ..."

Read more: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/verm/hd_verm.htm

'Vermeer may have made use of a camera obscura (literally "dark room") to help him conceive, although not paint, the composition. This optical device, a precursor of the modern camera ... Images recorded with a camera obscura often show discrepancies in scale similar to those found in this painting, and some areas in clearer focus than others ... The image is executed with remarkable spontaneity and informality, which may again be related to Vermeer's use of a camera obscura. His fluid, painterly treatment can be compared to the unfocused appearance of an image seen through such an optical device.'

Read more: http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/verm_4.shtm