Haystacks (Monet series)

Prompt: In Haystacks (Monet series), how is the Series background discussed?

The stacks depicted in the series are commonly referred to in English as hay, wheat or grain-stacks. In reality they stored sheafs of grain primarily for bread—so wheat [or possibly barley or oats]—and not hay, an animal food. The 10-to-20-foot (3.0 to 6.1 m) stacks were a way of keeping the sheafs dry until the grain could be separated from the stalks by threshing. The local method of storing and drying unthreshed-grains was to use straw, or sometimes hay, as a thatched 'roof' for the stack, shielding the wheat, barley or oats from the elements until, once dry-enough, they could be threshed. The threshing machines then traveled from village to village. Thus, although the grain was harvested and the stacks were built by July, it often took until the following spring or even later—so through all the light and atmosphere changes of summer, autumn, winter and spring—for all the stacks to be reached by the threshing-machines. Grain storage/drying-stacks like these became common throughout Europe in the 19th century and survived until the inception of combine harvesters. The shapes of stacks were regional: in Normandy, where Giverny is situated, it was common for them to be round with quite steeply-pitched thatched 'roofs'—just as Monet painted.The stacks belonged to Monet's farmer-neighbour, Monsieur Quéruel. Noticing the way the light changed on M. Quéruel's stacks, Monet asked his stepdaughter, Blanche Hoschedé, to bring him two canvases, one for sunny and one for overcast conditions. But Monet soon found he could not catch the ever-changing light and mood on merely two canvases: as a result, his willing helper was quickly bringing as many canvases as her wheelbarrow could hold. Monet's daily routine therefore came to involve carting paints, easels and many unfinished canvases back and forth, working on whichever canvas most closely resembled the scene of the moment as the conditions and light fluctuated. Although he began painting the stacks en plein air, Monet later revised his initial impressions in his studio, both to generate contrast and to preserve the harmony within the series.Monet produced numerous Haystacks paintings. He painted five paintings (Wildenstein Index Numbers 1213–1217) with stacks as his primary subject during the 1888 harvest. His earlier landscapes (Wildenstein Index Number 900–995, 1073) had included stacks [and also some more-accurately described hayricks: that is smaller piles of hay for animal-feed] in an ancillary manner. The general consensus is that only the canvases produced using the 1890 harvest (Wildenstein Index Number 1266–1290) comprise the Haystacks series proper. However some commentators include additional paintings when referencing this series. For example, the Hill-Stead Museum talk of their two stack paintings even though one is from the 'proper' 1890 harvest, the other from the 1888 harvest.Monet's Haystacks series is one of his earliest to rely on repetition to illustrate nuances in his perception across natural variations such as times of day, seasons, and types of weather.  For Monet, the concept of producing and exhibiting a series of paintings related by subject and vantage point began in 1889, with at least ten paintings done at the Valley of the Creuse, and subsequently shown at the Galerie Georges Petit. This interest in the serial motif would continue for the rest of his career.

Category:Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago

Category:Series of paintings by Claude Monet

''Grainstacks, Snow Effect'', 1890–91, [[National Gallery of Scotland

File:1274 Grainstacks Snow Effect, Meules, effet de neige, 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.jpg

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland

Category:Paintings in the Musée Marmottan Monet


Haystacks (Monet series)

Prompt: Focus on Haystacks (Monet series) and explain the Thematic issues.

Although the mundane subject was constant throughout the Haystack series, the underlying theme may be seen as the transience of light. This concept enabled Monet to use repetition to show nuances of perception as the time of day, the seasons and the weather changed. The almost unvarying subject provided the basis for him to compare changes of light and mood across his nuanced series. The first paintings in the series were started in late September or early October 1890, and he continued producing these paintings for about seven months. These paintings made Monet the first painter to paint such a large quantity of pictures of the same subject matter differentiated by light, weather, atmosphere and perspective.Beginning in the 1880s and 1890s, Monet focused on Haystacks and a number of other subjects (other series included the Mornings on the Seine, Poplars, Rouen Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, and the Water Lilies, among others). In order to work on many paintings virtually simultaneously, he would awake before dawn so as to begin at the earliest time of day:... for the Early Mornings on the Seine series, he chose to paint at and before dawn, which made it 'an easier subject and simpler lighting than usual', because at this time of day the effects did not change so rapidly; however, this involved him getting up at 3:30 a.m., which seems to have been unprecedented even for so inveterate an early riser as Monet."As the morning progressed and the light changed he would switch to sequentially later canvas settings, sometimes working on as many as ten or twelve paintings a day, each one depicting a slightly different aspect of light. The process would be repeated over the course of days, weeks, or months, depending on the weather and the progress of the paintings until they were completed. As the seasons changed the process was renewed.Certain effects of light only last for a few minutes, thus the canvases documenting such ephemera received attention for no more than a few minutes a day. Further complicating matters, the light of subsequent sunrises, for example, could alter substantially and would require separate canvases within the series. Subsequently, different hues are evident in each painting, and in each work, color is used to describe not only direct but reflected light. At differing times of day and in various seasons stacks absorb the light from diverse parts of the color spectrum. As a result, the residual light that is reflected off of the stacks is seen as ever-changing, and manifests in distinctive coloring.Many notable painters have been influenced by this particular series, including Les Fauves, Derain, and Vlaminck. Kandinsky's memoirs refer to the series: "What suddenly became clear to me was the unsuspected power of the palette, which I had not understood before and which surpassed my wildest dreams." The Haystacks series was a financial success. Fifteen of these were exhibited by Durand-Ruel in May 1891, and most of the paintings were sold within a month. They were especially popular among collectors from America, with twenty out of the thirty Haystacks created landing in American collections. Of the American collectors, Bertha Honoré Palmer bought nine of Monet's Haystacks. The 1891 exhibit met with great public acclaim. Octave Mirbeau described Monet's daring series as representing "what lies beyond progress itself." Others described the stacks as "faces of the landscape"—they represented the countryside as a retreat from daily problems and home for contentment with nature. Camille Pissarro said: "These canvases breathe contentment." Most of the paintings sold immediately for as much as 1,000 francs. Additionally, Monet's prices, in general, began to rise steeply. As a result, he was able to buy outright the house and grounds at Giverny and to start constructing a waterlily pond. After years of mere subsistence living, he was able to enjoy success.The series demonstrates his intense study of light and atmospheric conditions and Monet was a perfectionist in his renderings. Monet destroyed more than one series of paintings that he found wanting. However, this series escaped his own harsh self-criticism and destruction.

Category:Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago

Category:Series of paintings by Claude Monet

''Grainstacks, Snow Effect'', 1890–91, [[National Gallery of Scotland

File:1274 Grainstacks Snow Effect, Meules, effet de neige, 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.jpg

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland

Category:Paintings in the Musée Marmottan Monet


Haystacks (Monet series)

Prompt: Explain the Thematic issues of this artwork, Haystacks (Monet series).

Although the mundane subject was constant throughout the Haystack series, the underlying theme may be seen as the transience of light. This concept enabled Monet to use repetition to show nuances of perception as the time of day, the seasons and the weather changed. The almost unvarying subject provided the basis for him to compare changes of light and mood across his nuanced series. The first paintings in the series were started in late September or early October 1890, and he continued producing these paintings for about seven months. These paintings made Monet the first painter to paint such a large quantity of pictures of the same subject matter differentiated by light, weather, atmosphere and perspective.Beginning in the 1880s and 1890s, Monet focused on Haystacks and a number of other subjects (other series included the Mornings on the Seine, Poplars, Rouen Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, and the Water Lilies, among others). In order to work on many paintings virtually simultaneously, he would awake before dawn so as to begin at the earliest time of day:... for the Early Mornings on the Seine series, he chose to paint at and before dawn, which made it 'an easier subject and simpler lighting than usual', because at this time of day the effects did not change so rapidly; however, this involved him getting up at 3:30 a.m., which seems to have been unprecedented even for so inveterate an early riser as Monet."As the morning progressed and the light changed he would switch to sequentially later canvas settings, sometimes working on as many as ten or twelve paintings a day, each one depicting a slightly different aspect of light. The process would be repeated over the course of days, weeks, or months, depending on the weather and the progress of the paintings until they were completed. As the seasons changed the process was renewed.Certain effects of light only last for a few minutes, thus the canvases documenting such ephemera received attention for no more than a few minutes a day. Further complicating matters, the light of subsequent sunrises, for example, could alter substantially and would require separate canvases within the series. Subsequently, different hues are evident in each painting, and in each work, color is used to describe not only direct but reflected light. At differing times of day and in various seasons stacks absorb the light from diverse parts of the color spectrum. As a result, the residual light that is reflected off of the stacks is seen as ever-changing, and manifests in distinctive coloring.Many notable painters have been influenced by this particular series, including Les Fauves, Derain, and Vlaminck. Kandinsky's memoirs refer to the series: "What suddenly became clear to me was the unsuspected power of the palette, which I had not understood before and which surpassed my wildest dreams." The Haystacks series was a financial success. Fifteen of these were exhibited by Durand-Ruel in May 1891, and most of the paintings were sold within a month. They were especially popular among collectors from America, with twenty out of the thirty Haystacks created landing in American collections. Of the American collectors, Bertha Honoré Palmer bought nine of Monet's Haystacks. The 1891 exhibit met with great public acclaim. Octave Mirbeau described Monet's daring series as representing "what lies beyond progress itself." Others described the stacks as "faces of the landscape"—they represented the countryside as a retreat from daily problems and home for contentment with nature. Camille Pissarro said: "These canvases breathe contentment." Most of the paintings sold immediately for as much as 1,000 francs. Additionally, Monet's prices, in general, began to rise steeply. As a result, he was able to buy outright the house and grounds at Giverny and to start constructing a waterlily pond. After years of mere subsistence living, he was able to enjoy success.The series demonstrates his intense study of light and atmospheric conditions and Monet was a perfectionist in his renderings. Monet destroyed more than one series of paintings that he found wanting. However, this series escaped his own harsh self-criticism and destruction.

Category:Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago

Category:Series of paintings by Claude Monet

''Grainstacks, Snow Effect'', 1890–91, [[National Gallery of Scotland

File:1274 Grainstacks Snow Effect, Meules, effet de neige, 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.jpg

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland

Category:Paintings in the Musée Marmottan Monet


Haystacks (Monet series)

Prompt: How does Haystacks (Monet series) explain its Thematic issues?

Although the mundane subject was constant throughout the Haystack series, the underlying theme may be seen as the transience of light. This concept enabled Monet to use repetition to show nuances of perception as the time of day, the seasons and the weather changed. The almost unvarying subject provided the basis for him to compare changes of light and mood across his nuanced series. The first paintings in the series were started in late September or early October 1890, and he continued producing these paintings for about seven months. These paintings made Monet the first painter to paint such a large quantity of pictures of the same subject matter differentiated by light, weather, atmosphere and perspective.Beginning in the 1880s and 1890s, Monet focused on Haystacks and a number of other subjects (other series included the Mornings on the Seine, Poplars, Rouen Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, and the Water Lilies, among others). In order to work on many paintings virtually simultaneously, he would awake before dawn so as to begin at the earliest time of day:... for the Early Mornings on the Seine series, he chose to paint at and before dawn, which made it 'an easier subject and simpler lighting than usual', because at this time of day the effects did not change so rapidly; however, this involved him getting up at 3:30 a.m., which seems to have been unprecedented even for so inveterate an early riser as Monet."As the morning progressed and the light changed he would switch to sequentially later canvas settings, sometimes working on as many as ten or twelve paintings a day, each one depicting a slightly different aspect of light. The process would be repeated over the course of days, weeks, or months, depending on the weather and the progress of the paintings until they were completed. As the seasons changed the process was renewed.Certain effects of light only last for a few minutes, thus the canvases documenting such ephemera received attention for no more than a few minutes a day. Further complicating matters, the light of subsequent sunrises, for example, could alter substantially and would require separate canvases within the series. Subsequently, different hues are evident in each painting, and in each work, color is used to describe not only direct but reflected light. At differing times of day and in various seasons stacks absorb the light from diverse parts of the color spectrum. As a result, the residual light that is reflected off of the stacks is seen as ever-changing, and manifests in distinctive coloring.Many notable painters have been influenced by this particular series, including Les Fauves, Derain, and Vlaminck. Kandinsky's memoirs refer to the series: "What suddenly became clear to me was the unsuspected power of the palette, which I had not understood before and which surpassed my wildest dreams." The Haystacks series was a financial success. Fifteen of these were exhibited by Durand-Ruel in May 1891, and most of the paintings were sold within a month. They were especially popular among collectors from America, with twenty out of the thirty Haystacks created landing in American collections. Of the American collectors, Bertha Honoré Palmer bought nine of Monet's Haystacks. The 1891 exhibit met with great public acclaim. Octave Mirbeau described Monet's daring series as representing "what lies beyond progress itself." Others described the stacks as "faces of the landscape"—they represented the countryside as a retreat from daily problems and home for contentment with nature. Camille Pissarro said: "These canvases breathe contentment." Most of the paintings sold immediately for as much as 1,000 francs. Additionally, Monet's prices, in general, began to rise steeply. As a result, he was able to buy outright the house and grounds at Giverny and to start constructing a waterlily pond. After years of mere subsistence living, he was able to enjoy success.The series demonstrates his intense study of light and atmospheric conditions and Monet was a perfectionist in his renderings. Monet destroyed more than one series of paintings that he found wanting. However, this series escaped his own harsh self-criticism and destruction.

Category:Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago

Category:Series of paintings by Claude Monet

''Grainstacks, Snow Effect'', 1890–91, [[National Gallery of Scotland

File:1274 Grainstacks Snow Effect, Meules, effet de neige, 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.jpg

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland

Category:Paintings in the Musée Marmottan Monet


Haystacks (Monet series)

Prompt: In Haystacks (Monet series), how is the Thematic issues discussed?

Although the mundane subject was constant throughout the Haystack series, the underlying theme may be seen as the transience of light. This concept enabled Monet to use repetition to show nuances of perception as the time of day, the seasons and the weather changed. The almost unvarying subject provided the basis for him to compare changes of light and mood across his nuanced series. The first paintings in the series were started in late September or early October 1890, and he continued producing these paintings for about seven months. These paintings made Monet the first painter to paint such a large quantity of pictures of the same subject matter differentiated by light, weather, atmosphere and perspective.Beginning in the 1880s and 1890s, Monet focused on Haystacks and a number of other subjects (other series included the Mornings on the Seine, Poplars, Rouen Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, and the Water Lilies, among others). In order to work on many paintings virtually simultaneously, he would awake before dawn so as to begin at the earliest time of day:... for the Early Mornings on the Seine series, he chose to paint at and before dawn, which made it 'an easier subject and simpler lighting than usual', because at this time of day the effects did not change so rapidly; however, this involved him getting up at 3:30 a.m., which seems to have been unprecedented even for so inveterate an early riser as Monet."As the morning progressed and the light changed he would switch to sequentially later canvas settings, sometimes working on as many as ten or twelve paintings a day, each one depicting a slightly different aspect of light. The process would be repeated over the course of days, weeks, or months, depending on the weather and the progress of the paintings until they were completed. As the seasons changed the process was renewed.Certain effects of light only last for a few minutes, thus the canvases documenting such ephemera received attention for no more than a few minutes a day. Further complicating matters, the light of subsequent sunrises, for example, could alter substantially and would require separate canvases within the series. Subsequently, different hues are evident in each painting, and in each work, color is used to describe not only direct but reflected light. At differing times of day and in various seasons stacks absorb the light from diverse parts of the color spectrum. As a result, the residual light that is reflected off of the stacks is seen as ever-changing, and manifests in distinctive coloring.Many notable painters have been influenced by this particular series, including Les Fauves, Derain, and Vlaminck. Kandinsky's memoirs refer to the series: "What suddenly became clear to me was the unsuspected power of the palette, which I had not understood before and which surpassed my wildest dreams." The Haystacks series was a financial success. Fifteen of these were exhibited by Durand-Ruel in May 1891, and most of the paintings were sold within a month. They were especially popular among collectors from America, with twenty out of the thirty Haystacks created landing in American collections. Of the American collectors, Bertha Honoré Palmer bought nine of Monet's Haystacks. The 1891 exhibit met with great public acclaim. Octave Mirbeau described Monet's daring series as representing "what lies beyond progress itself." Others described the stacks as "faces of the landscape"—they represented the countryside as a retreat from daily problems and home for contentment with nature. Camille Pissarro said: "These canvases breathe contentment." Most of the paintings sold immediately for as much as 1,000 francs. Additionally, Monet's prices, in general, began to rise steeply. As a result, he was able to buy outright the house and grounds at Giverny and to start constructing a waterlily pond. After years of mere subsistence living, he was able to enjoy success.The series demonstrates his intense study of light and atmospheric conditions and Monet was a perfectionist in his renderings. Monet destroyed more than one series of paintings that he found wanting. However, this series escaped his own harsh self-criticism and destruction.

Category:Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago

Category:Series of paintings by Claude Monet

''Grainstacks, Snow Effect'', 1890–91, [[National Gallery of Scotland

File:1274 Grainstacks Snow Effect, Meules, effet de neige, 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.jpg

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland

Category:Paintings in the Musée Marmottan Monet


Haystacks (Monet series)

Prompt: Focus on Haystacks (Monet series) and explain the 1888–1889 paintings.

From the 1888 harvest, Monet produced three canvases featuring two stacks each (Wildenstein #'s 1213–5) against the backdrop of hills along the left bank of the Seine and a few Giverny houses to the right. Then, he turned to his left to capture two scenes (1216–7) in which the hills are shrouded by a line of poplars.

Category:Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago

Category:Series of paintings by Claude Monet

''Grainstacks, Snow Effect'', 1890–91, [[National Gallery of Scotland

File:1274 Grainstacks Snow Effect, Meules, effet de neige, 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.jpg

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland

Category:Paintings in the Musée Marmottan Monet


Haystacks (Monet series)

Prompt: Explain the 1888–1889 paintings of this artwork, Haystacks (Monet series).

From the 1888 harvest, Monet produced three canvases featuring two stacks each (Wildenstein #'s 1213–5) against the backdrop of hills along the left bank of the Seine and a few Giverny houses to the right. Then, he turned to his left to capture two scenes (1216–7) in which the hills are shrouded by a line of poplars.

Category:Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago

Category:Series of paintings by Claude Monet

''Grainstacks, Snow Effect'', 1890–91, [[National Gallery of Scotland

File:1274 Grainstacks Snow Effect, Meules, effet de neige, 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.jpg

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland

Category:Paintings in the Musée Marmottan Monet


Haystacks (Monet series)

Prompt: How does Haystacks (Monet series) explain its 1888–1889 paintings?

From the 1888 harvest, Monet produced three canvases featuring two stacks each (Wildenstein #'s 1213–5) against the backdrop of hills along the left bank of the Seine and a few Giverny houses to the right. Then, he turned to his left to capture two scenes (1216–7) in which the hills are shrouded by a line of poplars.

Category:Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago

Category:Series of paintings by Claude Monet

''Grainstacks, Snow Effect'', 1890–91, [[National Gallery of Scotland

File:1274 Grainstacks Snow Effect, Meules, effet de neige, 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.jpg

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland

Category:Paintings in the Musée Marmottan Monet


Haystacks (Monet series)

Prompt: In Haystacks (Monet series), how is the 1888–1889 paintings discussed?

From the 1888 harvest, Monet produced three canvases featuring two stacks each (Wildenstein #'s 1213–5) against the backdrop of hills along the left bank of the Seine and a few Giverny houses to the right. Then, he turned to his left to capture two scenes (1216–7) in which the hills are shrouded by a line of poplars.

Category:Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago

Category:Series of paintings by Claude Monet

''Grainstacks, Snow Effect'', 1890–91, [[National Gallery of Scotland

File:1274 Grainstacks Snow Effect, Meules, effet de neige, 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.jpg

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland

Category:Paintings in the Musée Marmottan Monet


Haystacks (Monet series)

Prompt: Focus on Haystacks (Monet series) and explain the 1890–1891 series.

On May 14, 2019, a privately held work from this series (Grainstacks, 1890) exchanged hands at $110.7 million, setting a record for a Monet work and becoming the first impressionist work to surpass $100 million. The buyer of the work was Hasso Plattner. Since September 2020, the painting is on display at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam.Climate activists threw mashed potatoes at the painting in October 2022, but it was not damaged and was cleaned and put back on display.

Category:Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago

Category:Series of paintings by Claude Monet

''Grainstacks, Snow Effect'', 1890–91, [[National Gallery of Scotland

File:1274 Grainstacks Snow Effect, Meules, effet de neige, 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.jpg

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland

Category:Paintings in the Musée Marmottan Monet


Haystacks (Monet series)

Prompt: Explain the 1890–1891 series of this artwork, Haystacks (Monet series).

On May 14, 2019, a privately held work from this series (Grainstacks, 1890) exchanged hands at $110.7 million, setting a record for a Monet work and becoming the first impressionist work to surpass $100 million. The buyer of the work was Hasso Plattner. Since September 2020, the painting is on display at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam.Climate activists threw mashed potatoes at the painting in October 2022, but it was not damaged and was cleaned and put back on display.

Category:Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago

Category:Series of paintings by Claude Monet

''Grainstacks, Snow Effect'', 1890–91, [[National Gallery of Scotland

File:1274 Grainstacks Snow Effect, Meules, effet de neige, 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.jpg

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland

Category:Paintings in the Musée Marmottan Monet


Haystacks (Monet series)

Prompt: How does Haystacks (Monet series) explain its 1890–1891 series?

On May 14, 2019, a privately held work from this series (Grainstacks, 1890) exchanged hands at $110.7 million, setting a record for a Monet work and becoming the first impressionist work to surpass $100 million. The buyer of the work was Hasso Plattner. Since September 2020, the painting is on display at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam.Climate activists threw mashed potatoes at the painting in October 2022, but it was not damaged and was cleaned and put back on display.

Category:Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago

Category:Series of paintings by Claude Monet

''Grainstacks, Snow Effect'', 1890–91, [[National Gallery of Scotland

File:1274 Grainstacks Snow Effect, Meules, effet de neige, 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.jpg

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland

Category:Paintings in the Musée Marmottan Monet


Haystacks (Monet series)

Prompt: In Haystacks (Monet series), how is the 1890–1891 series discussed?

On May 14, 2019, a privately held work from this series (Grainstacks, 1890) exchanged hands at $110.7 million, setting a record for a Monet work and becoming the first impressionist work to surpass $100 million. The buyer of the work was Hasso Plattner. Since September 2020, the painting is on display at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam.Climate activists threw mashed potatoes at the painting in October 2022, but it was not damaged and was cleaned and put back on display.

Category:Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago

Category:Series of paintings by Claude Monet

''Grainstacks, Snow Effect'', 1890–91, [[National Gallery of Scotland

File:1274 Grainstacks Snow Effect, Meules, effet de neige, 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT.jpg

Category:Paintings in National Galleries Scotland

Category:Paintings in the Musée Marmottan Monet


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: Focus on The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen and explain the abstract.

The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen (Dutch: De pastorie in Nuenen), alternatively named The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring (Dutch: De pastorie in Nuenen in het voorjaar) or Spring Garden (Dutch: Lentetuin: F185, JH484), is an early oil painting by 19th-century Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, created in May 1884 while he was living with his parents in Nuenen. Van Gogh made several drawings and oil paintings of the surrounding gardens and the garden façade of the parsonage.The painting was in the collection of the Groninger Museum in The Netherlands from 1962 to 2020. On 30 March 2020, it was stolen from an exhibition at the Singer Laren museum in Laren which had been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands. The painting was reported as recovered in September 2023.

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: Explain the abstract of this artwork, The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen.

The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen (Dutch: De pastorie in Nuenen), alternatively named The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring (Dutch: De pastorie in Nuenen in het voorjaar) or Spring Garden (Dutch: Lentetuin: F185, JH484), is an early oil painting by 19th-century Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, created in May 1884 while he was living with his parents in Nuenen. Van Gogh made several drawings and oil paintings of the surrounding gardens and the garden façade of the parsonage.The painting was in the collection of the Groninger Museum in The Netherlands from 1962 to 2020. On 30 March 2020, it was stolen from an exhibition at the Singer Laren museum in Laren which had been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands. The painting was reported as recovered in September 2023.

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: How does The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen explain its abstract?

The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen (Dutch: De pastorie in Nuenen), alternatively named The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring (Dutch: De pastorie in Nuenen in het voorjaar) or Spring Garden (Dutch: Lentetuin: F185, JH484), is an early oil painting by 19th-century Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, created in May 1884 while he was living with his parents in Nuenen. Van Gogh made several drawings and oil paintings of the surrounding gardens and the garden façade of the parsonage.The painting was in the collection of the Groninger Museum in The Netherlands from 1962 to 2020. On 30 March 2020, it was stolen from an exhibition at the Singer Laren museum in Laren which had been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands. The painting was reported as recovered in September 2023.

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: In The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen, how is the abstract discussed?

The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen (Dutch: De pastorie in Nuenen), alternatively named The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring (Dutch: De pastorie in Nuenen in het voorjaar) or Spring Garden (Dutch: Lentetuin: F185, JH484), is an early oil painting by 19th-century Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, created in May 1884 while he was living with his parents in Nuenen. Van Gogh made several drawings and oil paintings of the surrounding gardens and the garden façade of the parsonage.The painting was in the collection of the Groninger Museum in The Netherlands from 1962 to 2020. On 30 March 2020, it was stolen from an exhibition at the Singer Laren museum in Laren which had been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands. The painting was reported as recovered in September 2023.

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: Focus on The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen and explain the Background.

Van Gogh lived in The Hague with Sien Hoornik and then alone for a few months in Drenthe in the northern Netherlands. He then went to live with his parents in the parsonage of the Dutch Reformed Church at Nuenen near Eindhoven in December 1883 where his father was pastor. The family turned the laundry room into a studio in the back of the house.Van Gogh remained with his parents in Nuenen for nearly two years, producing about 200 drawings and paintings, including his first major work, The Potato Eaters. He moved to Antwerp in November 1885 and then to Paris in 1886.

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: Explain the Background of this artwork, The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen.

Van Gogh lived in The Hague with Sien Hoornik and then alone for a few months in Drenthe in the northern Netherlands. He then went to live with his parents in the parsonage of the Dutch Reformed Church at Nuenen near Eindhoven in December 1883 where his father was pastor. The family turned the laundry room into a studio in the back of the house.Van Gogh remained with his parents in Nuenen for nearly two years, producing about 200 drawings and paintings, including his first major work, The Potato Eaters. He moved to Antwerp in November 1885 and then to Paris in 1886.

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: How does The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen explain its Background?

Van Gogh lived in The Hague with Sien Hoornik and then alone for a few months in Drenthe in the northern Netherlands. He then went to live with his parents in the parsonage of the Dutch Reformed Church at Nuenen near Eindhoven in December 1883 where his father was pastor. The family turned the laundry room into a studio in the back of the house.Van Gogh remained with his parents in Nuenen for nearly two years, producing about 200 drawings and paintings, including his first major work, The Potato Eaters. He moved to Antwerp in November 1885 and then to Paris in 1886.

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: In The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen, how is the Background discussed?

Van Gogh lived in The Hague with Sien Hoornik and then alone for a few months in Drenthe in the northern Netherlands. He then went to live with his parents in the parsonage of the Dutch Reformed Church at Nuenen near Eindhoven in December 1883 where his father was pastor. The family turned the laundry room into a studio in the back of the house.Van Gogh remained with his parents in Nuenen for nearly two years, producing about 200 drawings and paintings, including his first major work, The Potato Eaters. He moved to Antwerp in November 1885 and then to Paris in 1886.

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: Focus on The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen and explain the Description.

In Nuenen, Van Gogh documented the changing seasons in his paintings of the parsonage's garden, which was enclosed by a high stone wall and included a duck pond with a boat dock, paths and hedges, flower and vegetable garden plots and an orchard.Preceded by a series of wintery drawings, this work was probably painted in May 1884. It depicts a view of the garden with a dark-clothed female figure in the foreground. In the distance are the ruins of the old church, also depicted in works such as Old Church Tower at Nuenen, before it was demolished in 1885. It uses the dark palette of greens and browns, typical of Van Gogh's early work, with touches of green and red in the painting indicating that winter has passed and spring has begun. In a letter that Van Gogh sent to Anthon van Rappard in March 1884, he mentioned the change in the seasons: "Ben ook zoekende naar de kleur van den wintertuin. Doch die is reeds een lente tuin - nu. En is iets heel anders geworden." ("Am also searching for the colour of the winter garden. But it is already a spring garden - now. And has become something completely different.")The painting is unusually wide, measuring 25 cm × 57 cm (9.8 in × 22.4 in) without its decorative frame, exceeding double square. Van Gogh may have worked with the help of a perspective window (a wooden frame strung with wires). It had been in the collection of the Groninger Museum, in the Dutch city of Groningen, since 1962 but was stolen in 2020.Other examples of the parsonage garden at Nuenen in Van Gogh's work

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: Explain the Description of this artwork, The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen.

In Nuenen, Van Gogh documented the changing seasons in his paintings of the parsonage's garden, which was enclosed by a high stone wall and included a duck pond with a boat dock, paths and hedges, flower and vegetable garden plots and an orchard.Preceded by a series of wintery drawings, this work was probably painted in May 1884. It depicts a view of the garden with a dark-clothed female figure in the foreground. In the distance are the ruins of the old church, also depicted in works such as Old Church Tower at Nuenen, before it was demolished in 1885. It uses the dark palette of greens and browns, typical of Van Gogh's early work, with touches of green and red in the painting indicating that winter has passed and spring has begun. In a letter that Van Gogh sent to Anthon van Rappard in March 1884, he mentioned the change in the seasons: "Ben ook zoekende naar de kleur van den wintertuin. Doch die is reeds een lente tuin - nu. En is iets heel anders geworden." ("Am also searching for the colour of the winter garden. But it is already a spring garden - now. And has become something completely different.")The painting is unusually wide, measuring 25 cm × 57 cm (9.8 in × 22.4 in) without its decorative frame, exceeding double square. Van Gogh may have worked with the help of a perspective window (a wooden frame strung with wires). It had been in the collection of the Groninger Museum, in the Dutch city of Groningen, since 1962 but was stolen in 2020.Other examples of the parsonage garden at Nuenen in Van Gogh's work

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: How does The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen explain its Description?

In Nuenen, Van Gogh documented the changing seasons in his paintings of the parsonage's garden, which was enclosed by a high stone wall and included a duck pond with a boat dock, paths and hedges, flower and vegetable garden plots and an orchard.Preceded by a series of wintery drawings, this work was probably painted in May 1884. It depicts a view of the garden with a dark-clothed female figure in the foreground. In the distance are the ruins of the old church, also depicted in works such as Old Church Tower at Nuenen, before it was demolished in 1885. It uses the dark palette of greens and browns, typical of Van Gogh's early work, with touches of green and red in the painting indicating that winter has passed and spring has begun. In a letter that Van Gogh sent to Anthon van Rappard in March 1884, he mentioned the change in the seasons: "Ben ook zoekende naar de kleur van den wintertuin. Doch die is reeds een lente tuin - nu. En is iets heel anders geworden." ("Am also searching for the colour of the winter garden. But it is already a spring garden - now. And has become something completely different.")The painting is unusually wide, measuring 25 cm × 57 cm (9.8 in × 22.4 in) without its decorative frame, exceeding double square. Van Gogh may have worked with the help of a perspective window (a wooden frame strung with wires). It had been in the collection of the Groninger Museum, in the Dutch city of Groningen, since 1962 but was stolen in 2020.Other examples of the parsonage garden at Nuenen in Van Gogh's work

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: In The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen, how is the Description discussed?

In Nuenen, Van Gogh documented the changing seasons in his paintings of the parsonage's garden, which was enclosed by a high stone wall and included a duck pond with a boat dock, paths and hedges, flower and vegetable garden plots and an orchard.Preceded by a series of wintery drawings, this work was probably painted in May 1884. It depicts a view of the garden with a dark-clothed female figure in the foreground. In the distance are the ruins of the old church, also depicted in works such as Old Church Tower at Nuenen, before it was demolished in 1885. It uses the dark palette of greens and browns, typical of Van Gogh's early work, with touches of green and red in the painting indicating that winter has passed and spring has begun. In a letter that Van Gogh sent to Anthon van Rappard in March 1884, he mentioned the change in the seasons: "Ben ook zoekende naar de kleur van den wintertuin. Doch die is reeds een lente tuin - nu. En is iets heel anders geworden." ("Am also searching for the colour of the winter garden. But it is already a spring garden - now. And has become something completely different.")The painting is unusually wide, measuring 25 cm × 57 cm (9.8 in × 22.4 in) without its decorative frame, exceeding double square. Van Gogh may have worked with the help of a perspective window (a wooden frame strung with wires). It had been in the collection of the Groninger Museum, in the Dutch city of Groningen, since 1962 but was stolen in 2020.Other examples of the parsonage garden at Nuenen in Van Gogh's work

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: Focus on The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen and explain the Theft.

The painting was stolen from the Singer Laren museum in Laren, North Holland on 30 March 2020, Van Gogh's birthday. The painting had been on loan from the Groninger Museum. At the time of the theft, the museum was closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Police said the thief or thieves smashed through the glass doors with a sledgehammer around 3:15 a.m. and left before law enforcement responded to the alarm. Museum director Jan Rudolph de Lorm said, "I'm shocked and unbelievably annoyed that this has happened."In June, photographs of the painting with a copy of the New York Times dated 30 May were sent to detective Arthur Brand. Also in the photo was the book Meesterdief (English: Masterthief). He compared this to the theft of two paintings from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam in 2002. Groniger Museum director Andreas Blühm said he was pleased that the painting still existed and believed the photographs were genuine. Since 1988, twenty-eight Van Gogh paintings have been stolen in the Netherlands, but all have been recovered.In early April 2021, Dutch police arrested a man in Baarn, Utrect in connection with the theft of the painting and also that of the c. 1626 painting Twee Lachende Jongens met een Mok Bier by Frans Hals, which had been stolen from the Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden, in Leerdam, Utrecht on 26 August 2020. Neither of the paintings had then been recovered. Art detective Arthur Brand told a reporter that the person in custody probably did not know the location of the works because "stolen artwork was often moved around quickly by criminal gangs". According to unnamed sources, the value of the painting was estimated as "up to £5m" in articles published by Deutsche Welle and The Guardian. On 24 September, the man was convicted of the thefts and sentenced to eight years imprisonment.In September 2023, Dutch art crime investigator Arthur Brand recovered the painting in cooperation with the Dutch police. According to Brand, after some negotiation he persuaded a man, who Brand said had “nothing to do with the theft”, to hand back the artwork.

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: Explain the Theft of this artwork, The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen.

The painting was stolen from the Singer Laren museum in Laren, North Holland on 30 March 2020, Van Gogh's birthday. The painting had been on loan from the Groninger Museum. At the time of the theft, the museum was closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Police said the thief or thieves smashed through the glass doors with a sledgehammer around 3:15 a.m. and left before law enforcement responded to the alarm. Museum director Jan Rudolph de Lorm said, "I'm shocked and unbelievably annoyed that this has happened."In June, photographs of the painting with a copy of the New York Times dated 30 May were sent to detective Arthur Brand. Also in the photo was the book Meesterdief (English: Masterthief). He compared this to the theft of two paintings from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam in 2002. Groniger Museum director Andreas Blühm said he was pleased that the painting still existed and believed the photographs were genuine. Since 1988, twenty-eight Van Gogh paintings have been stolen in the Netherlands, but all have been recovered.In early April 2021, Dutch police arrested a man in Baarn, Utrect in connection with the theft of the painting and also that of the c. 1626 painting Twee Lachende Jongens met een Mok Bier by Frans Hals, which had been stolen from the Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden, in Leerdam, Utrecht on 26 August 2020. Neither of the paintings had then been recovered. Art detective Arthur Brand told a reporter that the person in custody probably did not know the location of the works because "stolen artwork was often moved around quickly by criminal gangs". According to unnamed sources, the value of the painting was estimated as "up to £5m" in articles published by Deutsche Welle and The Guardian. On 24 September, the man was convicted of the thefts and sentenced to eight years imprisonment.In September 2023, Dutch art crime investigator Arthur Brand recovered the painting in cooperation with the Dutch police. According to Brand, after some negotiation he persuaded a man, who Brand said had “nothing to do with the theft”, to hand back the artwork.

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: How does The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen explain its Theft?

The painting was stolen from the Singer Laren museum in Laren, North Holland on 30 March 2020, Van Gogh's birthday. The painting had been on loan from the Groninger Museum. At the time of the theft, the museum was closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Police said the thief or thieves smashed through the glass doors with a sledgehammer around 3:15 a.m. and left before law enforcement responded to the alarm. Museum director Jan Rudolph de Lorm said, "I'm shocked and unbelievably annoyed that this has happened."In June, photographs of the painting with a copy of the New York Times dated 30 May were sent to detective Arthur Brand. Also in the photo was the book Meesterdief (English: Masterthief). He compared this to the theft of two paintings from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam in 2002. Groniger Museum director Andreas Blühm said he was pleased that the painting still existed and believed the photographs were genuine. Since 1988, twenty-eight Van Gogh paintings have been stolen in the Netherlands, but all have been recovered.In early April 2021, Dutch police arrested a man in Baarn, Utrect in connection with the theft of the painting and also that of the c. 1626 painting Twee Lachende Jongens met een Mok Bier by Frans Hals, which had been stolen from the Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden, in Leerdam, Utrecht on 26 August 2020. Neither of the paintings had then been recovered. Art detective Arthur Brand told a reporter that the person in custody probably did not know the location of the works because "stolen artwork was often moved around quickly by criminal gangs". According to unnamed sources, the value of the painting was estimated as "up to £5m" in articles published by Deutsche Welle and The Guardian. On 24 September, the man was convicted of the thefts and sentenced to eight years imprisonment.In September 2023, Dutch art crime investigator Arthur Brand recovered the painting in cooperation with the Dutch police. According to Brand, after some negotiation he persuaded a man, who Brand said had “nothing to do with the theft”, to hand back the artwork.

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

Prompt: In The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen, how is the Theft discussed?

The painting was stolen from the Singer Laren museum in Laren, North Holland on 30 March 2020, Van Gogh's birthday. The painting had been on loan from the Groninger Museum. At the time of the theft, the museum was closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Police said the thief or thieves smashed through the glass doors with a sledgehammer around 3:15 a.m. and left before law enforcement responded to the alarm. Museum director Jan Rudolph de Lorm said, "I'm shocked and unbelievably annoyed that this has happened."In June, photographs of the painting with a copy of the New York Times dated 30 May were sent to detective Arthur Brand. Also in the photo was the book Meesterdief (English: Masterthief). He compared this to the theft of two paintings from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam in 2002. Groniger Museum director Andreas Blühm said he was pleased that the painting still existed and believed the photographs were genuine. Since 1988, twenty-eight Van Gogh paintings have been stolen in the Netherlands, but all have been recovered.In early April 2021, Dutch police arrested a man in Baarn, Utrect in connection with the theft of the painting and also that of the c. 1626 painting Twee Lachende Jongens met een Mok Bier by Frans Hals, which had been stolen from the Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden, in Leerdam, Utrecht on 26 August 2020. Neither of the paintings had then been recovered. Art detective Arthur Brand told a reporter that the person in custody probably did not know the location of the works because "stolen artwork was often moved around quickly by criminal gangs". According to unnamed sources, the value of the painting was estimated as "up to £5m" in articles published by Deutsche Welle and The Guardian. On 24 September, the man was convicted of the thefts and sentenced to eight years imprisonment.In September 2023, Dutch art crime investigator Arthur Brand recovered the painting in cooperation with the Dutch police. According to Brand, after some negotiation he persuaded a man, who Brand said had “nothing to do with the theft”, to hand back the artwork.

Category:COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands

Category:Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts and cultural heritage


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: Focus on The Milkmaid (Vermeer) and explain the abstract.

The Milkmaid (Dutch: De melkmeid or Het melkmeisje), sometimes called The Kitchen Maid (Dutch: De keukenmeid), is an oil-on-canvas painting of a "milkmaid", in fact, a domestic kitchen maid, by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. It is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which regards it as "unquestionably one of the museum's finest attractions".The exact year of the painting's completion is unknown, with estimates varying by source. The Rijksmuseum estimates it as circa 1658. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, it was painted in about 1657 or 1658. The "Essential Vermeer" website gives a broader range of 1658–1661.

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: Explain the abstract of this artwork, The Milkmaid (Vermeer).

The Milkmaid (Dutch: De melkmeid or Het melkmeisje), sometimes called The Kitchen Maid (Dutch: De keukenmeid), is an oil-on-canvas painting of a "milkmaid", in fact, a domestic kitchen maid, by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. It is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which regards it as "unquestionably one of the museum's finest attractions".The exact year of the painting's completion is unknown, with estimates varying by source. The Rijksmuseum estimates it as circa 1658. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, it was painted in about 1657 or 1658. The "Essential Vermeer" website gives a broader range of 1658–1661.

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: How does The Milkmaid (Vermeer) explain its abstract?

The Milkmaid (Dutch: De melkmeid or Het melkmeisje), sometimes called The Kitchen Maid (Dutch: De keukenmeid), is an oil-on-canvas painting of a "milkmaid", in fact, a domestic kitchen maid, by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. It is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which regards it as "unquestionably one of the museum's finest attractions".The exact year of the painting's completion is unknown, with estimates varying by source. The Rijksmuseum estimates it as circa 1658. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, it was painted in about 1657 or 1658. The "Essential Vermeer" website gives a broader range of 1658–1661.

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: In The Milkmaid (Vermeer), how is the abstract discussed?

The Milkmaid (Dutch: De melkmeid or Het melkmeisje), sometimes called The Kitchen Maid (Dutch: De keukenmeid), is an oil-on-canvas painting of a "milkmaid", in fact, a domestic kitchen maid, by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. It is in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which regards it as "unquestionably one of the museum's finest attractions".The exact year of the painting's completion is unknown, with estimates varying by source. The Rijksmuseum estimates it as circa 1658. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, it was painted in about 1657 or 1658. The "Essential Vermeer" website gives a broader range of 1658–1661.

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: Focus on The Milkmaid (Vermeer) and explain the Descriptions and commentary.

The painting shows a milkmaid, a woman who milks cows and makes dairy products like butter and cheese, in a plain room carefully pouring milk into a squat earthenware container on a table. Milkmaids began working solely in the stables before large houses hired them to do housework as well rather than hiring out for more staff. Also on the table in front of the milkmaid are various types of bread. She is a young, sturdily built woman wearing a crisp linen cap, a blue apron and work sleeves pushed up from thick forearms. A foot warmer is on the floor behind her, near Delft wall tiles depicting Cupid (to the viewer's left) and a figure with a pole (to the right). Intense light streams from the window on the left side of the canvas.The painting is strikingly illusionistic, conveying not just details but a sense of the weight of the woman and the table. "The light, though bright, doesn't wash out the rough texture of the bread crusts or flatten the volumes of the maid's thick waist and rounded shoulders", wrote Karen Rosenberg, an art critic for The New York Times. Yet with half of the woman's face in shadow, it is "impossible to tell whether her downcast eyes and pursed lips express wistfulness or concentration," she wrote."It's a little bit of a Mona Lisa effect" in modern viewers' reactions to the painting, according to Walter Liedtke, curator of the department of European paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and organizer of two Vermeer exhibits. "There's a bit of mystery about her for modern audiences. She is going about her daily task, faintly smiling. And our reaction is 'What is she thinking?'"

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: Explain the Descriptions and commentary of this artwork, The Milkmaid (Vermeer).

The painting shows a milkmaid, a woman who milks cows and makes dairy products like butter and cheese, in a plain room carefully pouring milk into a squat earthenware container on a table. Milkmaids began working solely in the stables before large houses hired them to do housework as well rather than hiring out for more staff. Also on the table in front of the milkmaid are various types of bread. She is a young, sturdily built woman wearing a crisp linen cap, a blue apron and work sleeves pushed up from thick forearms. A foot warmer is on the floor behind her, near Delft wall tiles depicting Cupid (to the viewer's left) and a figure with a pole (to the right). Intense light streams from the window on the left side of the canvas.The painting is strikingly illusionistic, conveying not just details but a sense of the weight of the woman and the table. "The light, though bright, doesn't wash out the rough texture of the bread crusts or flatten the volumes of the maid's thick waist and rounded shoulders", wrote Karen Rosenberg, an art critic for The New York Times. Yet with half of the woman's face in shadow, it is "impossible to tell whether her downcast eyes and pursed lips express wistfulness or concentration," she wrote."It's a little bit of a Mona Lisa effect" in modern viewers' reactions to the painting, according to Walter Liedtke, curator of the department of European paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and organizer of two Vermeer exhibits. "There's a bit of mystery about her for modern audiences. She is going about her daily task, faintly smiling. And our reaction is 'What is she thinking?'"

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: How does The Milkmaid (Vermeer) explain its Descriptions and commentary?

The painting shows a milkmaid, a woman who milks cows and makes dairy products like butter and cheese, in a plain room carefully pouring milk into a squat earthenware container on a table. Milkmaids began working solely in the stables before large houses hired them to do housework as well rather than hiring out for more staff. Also on the table in front of the milkmaid are various types of bread. She is a young, sturdily built woman wearing a crisp linen cap, a blue apron and work sleeves pushed up from thick forearms. A foot warmer is on the floor behind her, near Delft wall tiles depicting Cupid (to the viewer's left) and a figure with a pole (to the right). Intense light streams from the window on the left side of the canvas.The painting is strikingly illusionistic, conveying not just details but a sense of the weight of the woman and the table. "The light, though bright, doesn't wash out the rough texture of the bread crusts or flatten the volumes of the maid's thick waist and rounded shoulders", wrote Karen Rosenberg, an art critic for The New York Times. Yet with half of the woman's face in shadow, it is "impossible to tell whether her downcast eyes and pursed lips express wistfulness or concentration," she wrote."It's a little bit of a Mona Lisa effect" in modern viewers' reactions to the painting, according to Walter Liedtke, curator of the department of European paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and organizer of two Vermeer exhibits. "There's a bit of mystery about her for modern audiences. She is going about her daily task, faintly smiling. And our reaction is 'What is she thinking?'"

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: In The Milkmaid (Vermeer), how is the Descriptions and commentary discussed?

The painting shows a milkmaid, a woman who milks cows and makes dairy products like butter and cheese, in a plain room carefully pouring milk into a squat earthenware container on a table. Milkmaids began working solely in the stables before large houses hired them to do housework as well rather than hiring out for more staff. Also on the table in front of the milkmaid are various types of bread. She is a young, sturdily built woman wearing a crisp linen cap, a blue apron and work sleeves pushed up from thick forearms. A foot warmer is on the floor behind her, near Delft wall tiles depicting Cupid (to the viewer's left) and a figure with a pole (to the right). Intense light streams from the window on the left side of the canvas.The painting is strikingly illusionistic, conveying not just details but a sense of the weight of the woman and the table. "The light, though bright, doesn't wash out the rough texture of the bread crusts or flatten the volumes of the maid's thick waist and rounded shoulders", wrote Karen Rosenberg, an art critic for The New York Times. Yet with half of the woman's face in shadow, it is "impossible to tell whether her downcast eyes and pursed lips express wistfulness or concentration," she wrote."It's a little bit of a Mona Lisa effect" in modern viewers' reactions to the painting, according to Walter Liedtke, curator of the department of European paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and organizer of two Vermeer exhibits. "There's a bit of mystery about her for modern audiences. She is going about her daily task, faintly smiling. And our reaction is 'What is she thinking?'"

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: In the context of The Milkmaid (Vermeer), explain the Dutch iconography of maids and the Descriptions and commentary.

The woman would have been known as a "kitchen maid" or maid-of-all-work rather than a specialised "milkmaid" at the time the painting was created: "milk maids" were women who milked cows; kitchen maids worked in kitchens. For at least two centuries before the painting was created, milkmaids and kitchen maids had a reputation as being predisposed to love or sex, and this was frequently reflected in Dutch paintings of kitchen and market scenes from Antwerp, Utrecht and Delft.  Some of the paintings were slyly suggestive, like The Milkmaid, others more coarsely so.The leading artists in this tradition were the Antwerp painters Joachim Beuckelaer (c. 1535–1575) and Frans Snyders (1579–1657), who had many followers and imitators, as well as Pieter Aertsen (who, like Beukelaer, had clients in Delft), the Utrecht Mannerist painter Joachim Wtewael (1566–1638), and his son, Peter Wtewael (1596–1660).  Closer to Vermeer's day, Nicolaes Maes painted several comic pictures now given titles such as The Lazy Servant.  However by this time there was an alternative convention of painting women at work in the home as exemplars of Dutch domestic virtue, dealt with at length by Simon Schama.In Dutch literature and paintings of Vermeer's time, maids were often depicted as subjects of male desire—dangerous women threatening the honor and security of the home, the center of Dutch life—although some Vermeer contemporaries, such as Pieter de Hooch, had started to represent them in a more neutral way, as did Michael Sweerts. Vermeer's painting is one of the rare examples of a maid treated in an empathetic and dignified way, although amorous symbols in this work still exemplify the tradition.Other painters in this tradition, such as Gerrit Dou (1613–1675), depicted attractive maids with symbolic objects such as jugs and various forms of game and produce. "In almost all the works of this tradition there is an erotic element, which is conveyed through gestures ranging from jamming chickens onto spits to gently offering — or so the direction of view suggests — an intimate glimpse of some vaguely uterine object," according to Liedtke. In Dou's 1646 painting, Girl Chopping Onions (now in the British Royal Collection), a pewter tankard may refer to both male and female anatomy, and the picture contains other contemporary symbols of lust, such as onions (said to have aphrodisiacal properties), and a dangling bird. Milk also had lewd connotations, from the slang term melken, defined as "to sexually attract or lure" (a meaning that may have originated from watching farm girls working under cows, according to Liedtke). Examples of works using milk this way include Lucas van Leyden's engraving The Milkmaid (1510) and Jacques de Gheyn II's engraving The Archer and the Milkmaid (about 1610). Vermeer's painting is even more understated, although the use of symbols remains: one of the Delft tiles at the foot of the wall behind the maid, near the foot warmer, depicts Cupid – which can imply arousal of a woman or simply that while she is working she is daydreaming about a man. Other amorous symbols in the painting include a wide-mouthed jug, often used as a symbol of the female anatomy. The foot warmer was often used by artists as a symbol for female sexual arousal because, when placed under a skirt, it heats the whole body below the waist, according to Liedtke. The coals enclosed inside the foot warmer could symbolize "either the heat of lust in tavern or brothel scenes, or the hidden but true burning passion of a woman for her husband", according to Serena Cant, a British art historian and lecturer. Yet the whitewashed wall and presence of milk seem to indicate that the room was a "cool kitchen" used for cooking with dairy products, such as milk and butter, so the foot warmer would have a pragmatic purpose there. Since other Dutch paintings of the period indicate that foot warmers were used when seated, its presence in the picture may symbolize the standing woman's "hardworking nature", according to Cant.The painting is part of a social context of the sexual or romantic interactions of maids and men of higher social ranks that has now disappeared in Europe and which was never commonly recognized in America.  Liedtke offers as an example Vermeer's contemporary, Samuel Pepys, whose diary records encounters with kitchen maids, oyster girls, and, at an inn during a 1660 visit to Delft, "an exceedingly pretty lass ... right for the sport". The painting was first owned by (and may have been painted for) Pieter van Ruijven, owner of several other paintings by Vermeer which also depicted attractive young women and with themes of desire and self-denial quite different from the attitude of Pepys and many of the paintings in the Dutch "kitchenmaid" tradition.In Dutch, Het Melkmeisje is the painting's most-used name. Although this title is less accurate in modern Dutch, the word "meid" (maid) has gained a negative connotation that is not present in its diminutive form ("meisje")—hence the use of the more friendly title for the work, used by the Rijksmuseum and others.

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: Explain the Dutch iconography of maids about the Descriptions and commentary of this artwork, The Milkmaid (Vermeer).

The woman would have been known as a "kitchen maid" or maid-of-all-work rather than a specialised "milkmaid" at the time the painting was created: "milk maids" were women who milked cows; kitchen maids worked in kitchens. For at least two centuries before the painting was created, milkmaids and kitchen maids had a reputation as being predisposed to love or sex, and this was frequently reflected in Dutch paintings of kitchen and market scenes from Antwerp, Utrecht and Delft.  Some of the paintings were slyly suggestive, like The Milkmaid, others more coarsely so.The leading artists in this tradition were the Antwerp painters Joachim Beuckelaer (c. 1535–1575) and Frans Snyders (1579–1657), who had many followers and imitators, as well as Pieter Aertsen (who, like Beukelaer, had clients in Delft), the Utrecht Mannerist painter Joachim Wtewael (1566–1638), and his son, Peter Wtewael (1596–1660).  Closer to Vermeer's day, Nicolaes Maes painted several comic pictures now given titles such as The Lazy Servant.  However by this time there was an alternative convention of painting women at work in the home as exemplars of Dutch domestic virtue, dealt with at length by Simon Schama.In Dutch literature and paintings of Vermeer's time, maids were often depicted as subjects of male desire—dangerous women threatening the honor and security of the home, the center of Dutch life—although some Vermeer contemporaries, such as Pieter de Hooch, had started to represent them in a more neutral way, as did Michael Sweerts. Vermeer's painting is one of the rare examples of a maid treated in an empathetic and dignified way, although amorous symbols in this work still exemplify the tradition.Other painters in this tradition, such as Gerrit Dou (1613–1675), depicted attractive maids with symbolic objects such as jugs and various forms of game and produce. "In almost all the works of this tradition there is an erotic element, which is conveyed through gestures ranging from jamming chickens onto spits to gently offering — or so the direction of view suggests — an intimate glimpse of some vaguely uterine object," according to Liedtke. In Dou's 1646 painting, Girl Chopping Onions (now in the British Royal Collection), a pewter tankard may refer to both male and female anatomy, and the picture contains other contemporary symbols of lust, such as onions (said to have aphrodisiacal properties), and a dangling bird. Milk also had lewd connotations, from the slang term melken, defined as "to sexually attract or lure" (a meaning that may have originated from watching farm girls working under cows, according to Liedtke). Examples of works using milk this way include Lucas van Leyden's engraving The Milkmaid (1510) and Jacques de Gheyn II's engraving The Archer and the Milkmaid (about 1610). Vermeer's painting is even more understated, although the use of symbols remains: one of the Delft tiles at the foot of the wall behind the maid, near the foot warmer, depicts Cupid – which can imply arousal of a woman or simply that while she is working she is daydreaming about a man. Other amorous symbols in the painting include a wide-mouthed jug, often used as a symbol of the female anatomy. The foot warmer was often used by artists as a symbol for female sexual arousal because, when placed under a skirt, it heats the whole body below the waist, according to Liedtke. The coals enclosed inside the foot warmer could symbolize "either the heat of lust in tavern or brothel scenes, or the hidden but true burning passion of a woman for her husband", according to Serena Cant, a British art historian and lecturer. Yet the whitewashed wall and presence of milk seem to indicate that the room was a "cool kitchen" used for cooking with dairy products, such as milk and butter, so the foot warmer would have a pragmatic purpose there. Since other Dutch paintings of the period indicate that foot warmers were used when seated, its presence in the picture may symbolize the standing woman's "hardworking nature", according to Cant.The painting is part of a social context of the sexual or romantic interactions of maids and men of higher social ranks that has now disappeared in Europe and which was never commonly recognized in America.  Liedtke offers as an example Vermeer's contemporary, Samuel Pepys, whose diary records encounters with kitchen maids, oyster girls, and, at an inn during a 1660 visit to Delft, "an exceedingly pretty lass ... right for the sport". The painting was first owned by (and may have been painted for) Pieter van Ruijven, owner of several other paintings by Vermeer which also depicted attractive young women and with themes of desire and self-denial quite different from the attitude of Pepys and many of the paintings in the Dutch "kitchenmaid" tradition.In Dutch, Het Melkmeisje is the painting's most-used name. Although this title is less accurate in modern Dutch, the word "meid" (maid) has gained a negative connotation that is not present in its diminutive form ("meisje")—hence the use of the more friendly title for the work, used by the Rijksmuseum and others.

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: In The Milkmaid (Vermeer), how is the Dutch iconography of maids of the Descriptions and commentary explained?

The woman would have been known as a "kitchen maid" or maid-of-all-work rather than a specialised "milkmaid" at the time the painting was created: "milk maids" were women who milked cows; kitchen maids worked in kitchens. For at least two centuries before the painting was created, milkmaids and kitchen maids had a reputation as being predisposed to love or sex, and this was frequently reflected in Dutch paintings of kitchen and market scenes from Antwerp, Utrecht and Delft.  Some of the paintings were slyly suggestive, like The Milkmaid, others more coarsely so.The leading artists in this tradition were the Antwerp painters Joachim Beuckelaer (c. 1535–1575) and Frans Snyders (1579–1657), who had many followers and imitators, as well as Pieter Aertsen (who, like Beukelaer, had clients in Delft), the Utrecht Mannerist painter Joachim Wtewael (1566–1638), and his son, Peter Wtewael (1596–1660).  Closer to Vermeer's day, Nicolaes Maes painted several comic pictures now given titles such as The Lazy Servant.  However by this time there was an alternative convention of painting women at work in the home as exemplars of Dutch domestic virtue, dealt with at length by Simon Schama.In Dutch literature and paintings of Vermeer's time, maids were often depicted as subjects of male desire—dangerous women threatening the honor and security of the home, the center of Dutch life—although some Vermeer contemporaries, such as Pieter de Hooch, had started to represent them in a more neutral way, as did Michael Sweerts. Vermeer's painting is one of the rare examples of a maid treated in an empathetic and dignified way, although amorous symbols in this work still exemplify the tradition.Other painters in this tradition, such as Gerrit Dou (1613–1675), depicted attractive maids with symbolic objects such as jugs and various forms of game and produce. "In almost all the works of this tradition there is an erotic element, which is conveyed through gestures ranging from jamming chickens onto spits to gently offering — or so the direction of view suggests — an intimate glimpse of some vaguely uterine object," according to Liedtke. In Dou's 1646 painting, Girl Chopping Onions (now in the British Royal Collection), a pewter tankard may refer to both male and female anatomy, and the picture contains other contemporary symbols of lust, such as onions (said to have aphrodisiacal properties), and a dangling bird. Milk also had lewd connotations, from the slang term melken, defined as "to sexually attract or lure" (a meaning that may have originated from watching farm girls working under cows, according to Liedtke). Examples of works using milk this way include Lucas van Leyden's engraving The Milkmaid (1510) and Jacques de Gheyn II's engraving The Archer and the Milkmaid (about 1610). Vermeer's painting is even more understated, although the use of symbols remains: one of the Delft tiles at the foot of the wall behind the maid, near the foot warmer, depicts Cupid – which can imply arousal of a woman or simply that while she is working she is daydreaming about a man. Other amorous symbols in the painting include a wide-mouthed jug, often used as a symbol of the female anatomy. The foot warmer was often used by artists as a symbol for female sexual arousal because, when placed under a skirt, it heats the whole body below the waist, according to Liedtke. The coals enclosed inside the foot warmer could symbolize "either the heat of lust in tavern or brothel scenes, or the hidden but true burning passion of a woman for her husband", according to Serena Cant, a British art historian and lecturer. Yet the whitewashed wall and presence of milk seem to indicate that the room was a "cool kitchen" used for cooking with dairy products, such as milk and butter, so the foot warmer would have a pragmatic purpose there. Since other Dutch paintings of the period indicate that foot warmers were used when seated, its presence in the picture may symbolize the standing woman's "hardworking nature", according to Cant.The painting is part of a social context of the sexual or romantic interactions of maids and men of higher social ranks that has now disappeared in Europe and which was never commonly recognized in America.  Liedtke offers as an example Vermeer's contemporary, Samuel Pepys, whose diary records encounters with kitchen maids, oyster girls, and, at an inn during a 1660 visit to Delft, "an exceedingly pretty lass ... right for the sport". The painting was first owned by (and may have been painted for) Pieter van Ruijven, owner of several other paintings by Vermeer which also depicted attractive young women and with themes of desire and self-denial quite different from the attitude of Pepys and many of the paintings in the Dutch "kitchenmaid" tradition.In Dutch, Het Melkmeisje is the painting's most-used name. Although this title is less accurate in modern Dutch, the word "meid" (maid) has gained a negative connotation that is not present in its diminutive form ("meisje")—hence the use of the more friendly title for the work, used by the Rijksmuseum and others.

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: Describe the characteristics of the Dutch iconography of maids in The Milkmaid (Vermeer)'s Descriptions and commentary.

The woman would have been known as a "kitchen maid" or maid-of-all-work rather than a specialised "milkmaid" at the time the painting was created: "milk maids" were women who milked cows; kitchen maids worked in kitchens. For at least two centuries before the painting was created, milkmaids and kitchen maids had a reputation as being predisposed to love or sex, and this was frequently reflected in Dutch paintings of kitchen and market scenes from Antwerp, Utrecht and Delft.  Some of the paintings were slyly suggestive, like The Milkmaid, others more coarsely so.The leading artists in this tradition were the Antwerp painters Joachim Beuckelaer (c. 1535–1575) and Frans Snyders (1579–1657), who had many followers and imitators, as well as Pieter Aertsen (who, like Beukelaer, had clients in Delft), the Utrecht Mannerist painter Joachim Wtewael (1566–1638), and his son, Peter Wtewael (1596–1660).  Closer to Vermeer's day, Nicolaes Maes painted several comic pictures now given titles such as The Lazy Servant.  However by this time there was an alternative convention of painting women at work in the home as exemplars of Dutch domestic virtue, dealt with at length by Simon Schama.In Dutch literature and paintings of Vermeer's time, maids were often depicted as subjects of male desire—dangerous women threatening the honor and security of the home, the center of Dutch life—although some Vermeer contemporaries, such as Pieter de Hooch, had started to represent them in a more neutral way, as did Michael Sweerts. Vermeer's painting is one of the rare examples of a maid treated in an empathetic and dignified way, although amorous symbols in this work still exemplify the tradition.Other painters in this tradition, such as Gerrit Dou (1613–1675), depicted attractive maids with symbolic objects such as jugs and various forms of game and produce. "In almost all the works of this tradition there is an erotic element, which is conveyed through gestures ranging from jamming chickens onto spits to gently offering — or so the direction of view suggests — an intimate glimpse of some vaguely uterine object," according to Liedtke. In Dou's 1646 painting, Girl Chopping Onions (now in the British Royal Collection), a pewter tankard may refer to both male and female anatomy, and the picture contains other contemporary symbols of lust, such as onions (said to have aphrodisiacal properties), and a dangling bird. Milk also had lewd connotations, from the slang term melken, defined as "to sexually attract or lure" (a meaning that may have originated from watching farm girls working under cows, according to Liedtke). Examples of works using milk this way include Lucas van Leyden's engraving The Milkmaid (1510) and Jacques de Gheyn II's engraving The Archer and the Milkmaid (about 1610). Vermeer's painting is even more understated, although the use of symbols remains: one of the Delft tiles at the foot of the wall behind the maid, near the foot warmer, depicts Cupid – which can imply arousal of a woman or simply that while she is working she is daydreaming about a man. Other amorous symbols in the painting include a wide-mouthed jug, often used as a symbol of the female anatomy. The foot warmer was often used by artists as a symbol for female sexual arousal because, when placed under a skirt, it heats the whole body below the waist, according to Liedtke. The coals enclosed inside the foot warmer could symbolize "either the heat of lust in tavern or brothel scenes, or the hidden but true burning passion of a woman for her husband", according to Serena Cant, a British art historian and lecturer. Yet the whitewashed wall and presence of milk seem to indicate that the room was a "cool kitchen" used for cooking with dairy products, such as milk and butter, so the foot warmer would have a pragmatic purpose there. Since other Dutch paintings of the period indicate that foot warmers were used when seated, its presence in the picture may symbolize the standing woman's "hardworking nature", according to Cant.The painting is part of a social context of the sexual or romantic interactions of maids and men of higher social ranks that has now disappeared in Europe and which was never commonly recognized in America.  Liedtke offers as an example Vermeer's contemporary, Samuel Pepys, whose diary records encounters with kitchen maids, oyster girls, and, at an inn during a 1660 visit to Delft, "an exceedingly pretty lass ... right for the sport". The painting was first owned by (and may have been painted for) Pieter van Ruijven, owner of several other paintings by Vermeer which also depicted attractive young women and with themes of desire and self-denial quite different from the attitude of Pepys and many of the paintings in the Dutch "kitchenmaid" tradition.In Dutch, Het Melkmeisje is the painting's most-used name. Although this title is less accurate in modern Dutch, the word "meid" (maid) has gained a negative connotation that is not present in its diminutive form ("meisje")—hence the use of the more friendly title for the work, used by the Rijksmuseum and others.

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: In the context of The Milkmaid (Vermeer), explain the Narrative and thematic elements and the Descriptions and commentary.

According to art historian Harry Rand, the painting suggests the woman is making bread pudding, which would account for the milk and the broken pieces of bread on the table. Rand assumed she would have already made custard in which the bread mixed with egg would be soaking at the moment depicted in the painting. She pours milk into the Dutch oven to cover the mixture because otherwise the bread, if not simmering in liquid while it is baking, will become an unappetizing, dry crust instead of forming the typical upper surface of the pudding. She is careful in pouring the trickle of milk because bread pudding can be ruined when the ingredients are not accurately measured or properly combined.By depicting the working maid in the act of careful cooking, the artist presents not just a picture of an everyday scene, but one with ethical and social value. The humble woman is using common ingredients and otherwise useless stale bread to create a pleasurable product for the household. "Her measured demeanor, modest dress and judiciousness in preparing her food conveys eloquently yet unobtrusively one of the strongest values of 17th-century Netherlands, domestic virtue", according to the Essential Vermeer website."In the end, it is not the allusions to female sexuality that give this painting its romance or emotional resonance — it is the depiction of honest, hard work as something romantic in and of itself," Raquel Laneri wrote in Forbes magazine. "The Milkmaid elevates the drudgery of housework and servitude to virtuous, even heroic, levels."

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: Explain the Narrative and thematic elements about the Descriptions and commentary of this artwork, The Milkmaid (Vermeer).

According to art historian Harry Rand, the painting suggests the woman is making bread pudding, which would account for the milk and the broken pieces of bread on the table. Rand assumed she would have already made custard in which the bread mixed with egg would be soaking at the moment depicted in the painting. She pours milk into the Dutch oven to cover the mixture because otherwise the bread, if not simmering in liquid while it is baking, will become an unappetizing, dry crust instead of forming the typical upper surface of the pudding. She is careful in pouring the trickle of milk because bread pudding can be ruined when the ingredients are not accurately measured or properly combined.By depicting the working maid in the act of careful cooking, the artist presents not just a picture of an everyday scene, but one with ethical and social value. The humble woman is using common ingredients and otherwise useless stale bread to create a pleasurable product for the household. "Her measured demeanor, modest dress and judiciousness in preparing her food conveys eloquently yet unobtrusively one of the strongest values of 17th-century Netherlands, domestic virtue", according to the Essential Vermeer website."In the end, it is not the allusions to female sexuality that give this painting its romance or emotional resonance — it is the depiction of honest, hard work as something romantic in and of itself," Raquel Laneri wrote in Forbes magazine. "The Milkmaid elevates the drudgery of housework and servitude to virtuous, even heroic, levels."

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer


The Milkmaid (Vermeer)

Prompt: In The Milkmaid (Vermeer), how is the Narrative and thematic elements of the Descriptions and commentary explained?

According to art historian Harry Rand, the painting suggests the woman is making bread pudding, which would account for the milk and the broken pieces of bread on the table. Rand assumed she would have already made custard in which the bread mixed with egg would be soaking at the moment depicted in the painting. She pours milk into the Dutch oven to cover the mixture because otherwise the bread, if not simmering in liquid while it is baking, will become an unappetizing, dry crust instead of forming the typical upper surface of the pudding. She is careful in pouring the trickle of milk because bread pudding can be ruined when the ingredients are not accurately measured or properly combined.By depicting the working maid in the act of careful cooking, the artist presents not just a picture of an everyday scene, but one with ethical and social value. The humble woman is using common ingredients and otherwise useless stale bread to create a pleasurable product for the household. "Her measured demeanor, modest dress and judiciousness in preparing her food conveys eloquently yet unobtrusively one of the strongest values of 17th-century Netherlands, domestic virtue", according to the Essential Vermeer website."In the end, it is not the allusions to female sexuality that give this painting its romance or emotional resonance — it is the depiction of honest, hard work as something romantic in and of itself," Raquel Laneri wrote in Forbes magazine. "The Milkmaid elevates the drudgery of housework and servitude to virtuous, even heroic, levels."

The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age

Dutch Golden Age painting#Scenes of everyday life

File:Vermeer, Johannes, The Milkmaid (about 1657-58).jpg

A 1907 Dutch cartoon by Jan Rinke, reflecting a controversy over whether the state should purchase the painting rather than let it possibly fall into the hands of some rich American art collector. The government bought the work for the [[Rijksmuseum

File:Gerrit Dou 1646 painting Girl Chopping Onions.jpg

Painting detail showing the foot warmer, with tiles of [[Cupid

Category:Genre paintings by Johannes Vermeer