Vermeer's paintings might be 350 year-old color photographs

Re:Vermeer's paintings might be 350 year-old color photographs by Brakenshire on Tuesday June 10, 2014 @02:10PM (#7874296)

FWIW, I saw this painting (The Music Lesson) when it was on exhibition at the National Gallery in London last year, and that photograph doesn't do it justice.

There's an issue about the quality of the photo, and its colour reproduction, for instance compare these three photos:

http://historicartgallery.com/store/media/catalog/product/ca...

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/vermeer/i/music-lesson....

http://media.boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/xl_mu...

Also, part of the exhibition was about various painting and materials techniques he used to achieve effects like opalescence, and I suspect things like that (which work by reflection of light as you move past the photograph) are difficult to capture using photography.

Having said that, the reproduction is extremely impressive. I wonder if the process could be automated. I wouldn't mind a fake, almost-as-good-as-Vermeer hanging in my room.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Vermeer's paintings might be 350 year-old color photographs by anigbrowl on Tuesday June 10, 2014 @03:01PM (#7874613)

There's a village in China where they've made an industry out of producing good quality hand-painted reproductions of famous works. The cheap ones probably don't look that great up close, but I'm sure if you were willing to pay more (like $500) you could get something very nice.

http://www.dafenvillageonline.com/

[ Parent | on HN ]