Quotes about Johannes Vermeer

• Delacroix spoke of the Greek coin being built from the center out. Vermeer has painted in this way, according to the principles of mass.. ..How beautifully they are drawn - Vermeer does not just make a leaf and place it in the design, he relates space and leaf. [on the painting of Vermeer ‘Allegory on the New Testament]. That drapery - it is abstract – observe how this shape [a space between a shepherd and the tree] curves around the center space while the tree counter-curves opposite it, cutting an egg shape.. ..the spaces on the carpet that carry no figuration are, in fact, shapes of vital importance in building the whole…

• Arshile Gorky in: 'A visit to the Metropolitan Museum with Gorky', Ethel Schwabacher, 1947; as quoted in "Arshile Gorky, - Goats on the roof", ed. by Matthew Spender, Ridinghouse, London 2009, p. 357.

• Yes, Johannes Vermeer paints in thin layers – there is no waste effort – and those small dots – no, they are not like Seurat’s, though they contain all the light the pointillist may have wished for, concentrated, hovering before the object, but not obliterating it.. ..Vermeer is not a sun painter, but rather a moon-painter - like Uccello - that’s good, it is the pure, final stage of art, the moment when it becomes more real than reality.

• Arshile Gorky in: A visit to the Metropolitan Museum with Gorky', Ethel Schwabacher, 1947; as quoted in "Arshile Gorky, Goats on the roof", ed. by Matthew Spender, Ridinghouse, London 2009, pp. 357-58.

Hans Holbein the Younger | Northern Renaissance painter

Hans Holbein the Younger, (born 1497/98, Augsburg, Bishopric of Augsburg [Germany] - died 1543, London, England), German painter ⎆, draftsman, and designer, renowned for the precise rendering of his drawings and the compelling realism of his portraits, particularly those recording the court of King Henry VIII of England.

Holbein was a member of a family of important artists. His father, Hans Holbein the Elder, and his uncle Sigmund were renowned for their somewhat conservative examples of late Gothic painting in Germany.

Cosmé Tura | Early Renaissance painter

Cosmè Tura, Cosmè also spelled Cosimo, (born c. 1430, Ferrara [Italy] - died 1495, Ferrara), early Italian Renaissance painter who was the founder and the first significant figure of the 15th-century school of Ferrara. His well-documented career provides a detailed glimpse of the life of a court painter.

Tura was probably trained in Francesco Squarcione’s workshop in Padua and was influenced by Andrea Mantegna ⎆ and by Piero della Francesca when the latter artist was working in Ferrara (c. 1449-50).

Annibale Carracci (Italian, 1560-1609)

Annibale Carracci, (born November 3, 1560, Bologna, Papal States [Italy] - died July 15, 1609, Rome), Italian painter who was influential in recovering the classicizing tradition of the High Renaissance from the affectations of Mannerism.

He was the most talented of the three painters of the Carracci family.

The sons of a tailor, Annibale and his older brother Agostino were at first guided by their older cousin Lodovico, a painter who persuaded them to follow him in his profession.

Annibale’s precocious talents developed in a tour of northern Italy in the 1580s, his visit to Venice being of special significance.

Vincent Van Gogh | First Steps (after Millet), 1890

Artist: Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

Date: 1890

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 72.4 x 91.1 cm

Current location: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Charles Bukowski | Quando Dio creò l’amore / Yes Yes

When God created love he didn't help most

when God created dogs He didn't help dogs

when God created plants that was average

when God created hate we had a standard utility

when God created me He created me

when God created the monkey He was asleep

when He created the giraffe He was drunk

Anna MarinovaRussian painter,1983) Spring Harmony

Van Gogh | Sunflowers series, 1888

Inspired by Paul Gauguin’s ⎆ impending arrival, Vincent van Gogh was determined to cover the walls of The Yellow House with paintings of sunflowers. August 21, 1888 Van Gogh wrote to his brother, Theo:

"Now that I hope to live with Gauguin in a studio of our own, I want to make decorations for the studio. Nothing but big flowers. Next door to your shop, in the restaurant, you know there is a lovely decoration of flowers; I always remember the big sunflowers in the window there.
If I carry out this idea there will be a dozen panels. So the whole thing will be a symphony in blue and yellow".

Larry Duke | Ballet Dancers

Nord Carolina based artist Larry Duke is an American painter ⎆, know for working in in the Figurative Impressionism style ⎆. As a young person, Duke discovered an aptitude and love for drawing and has enjoyed art ever since.

His interest intensified and became even more passionate 11 years ago when he started oil painting with a local artist (Manny Rashet). Over the past six years he has worked with Andy Braitman where he mastered his unique combination of loose brush work and palette knife ⎆.