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Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Masterpieces
by Steadman, Philip
- Used
- Very Good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Very Good/Very Good
- ISBN 10
- 0192159674
- ISBN 13
- 9780192159670
- Seller
-
Menifee, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Oxford University Press, 2001-06-07. hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 6x0x9. 2001 Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches tall black cloth hardcover in publisher's unclipped dust jacket, silver lettering to spine, copiously illustrated with black-and-white and full color photographs and reproductions of artwork, xiv, 207 pp. plus 8 unnumbered pages of plates. Very slight rubbing to covers. Otherwise, a near fine copy - clean, bright and unmarked - in an only slightly edgeworn dust jacket which is nicely preserved and displayed in a clear archival Brodart sleeve. ~SP37~ [2.0P] Art historians have long speculated on how Vermeer achieved the uncanny mixture of detached precision, compositional repose, and perspective accuracy that have drawn many to describe his work as 'photographic.' Indeed, many wonder if Vermeer employed a camera obscura, a primitive form of camera, to enhance his realistic effects? In Vermeer's Camera, Philip Steadman traces the development of the camera obscura - first described by Leonaro da Vinci - weighs the arguments that scholars have made for and against Vermeer's use of the camera, and offers a fascinating examination of the paintings themselves and what they alone can tell us of Vermeer's technique. Vermeer left no record of his method and indeed we know almost nothing of the man nor of how he worked. But by a close and illuminating study of the paintings Steadman concludes that Vermeer did use the camera obscura and shows how the inherent defects in this primitive device enabled Vermeer to achieve some remarkable effects - the slight blurring of image, the absence of sharp lines, the peculiar illusion not of closeness but of distance in the domestic scenes. Steadman argues that the use of the camera also explains some previously unexplainable qualities of Vermeer's art, such as the absence of conventional drawing, the pattern of underpainting in areas of pure tone, the pervasive feeling of reticence that suffuses his canvases, and the almost magical sense that Vermeer is painting not objects but light itself. Drawing on a wealth of Vermeer research and displaying an extraordinary sensitivity to the subtleties of the work itself, Philip Steadman offers in Vermeer's Camera a fresh perspective on some of the most enchanting paintings ever created.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Flamingo Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- SP37-0142-14173
- Title
- Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Masterpieces
- Author
- Steadman, Philip
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- ISBN 10
- 0192159674
- ISBN 13
- 9780192159670
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Place of Publication
- Oxford
- Date Published
- 2001-06-07
- Size
- 6x0x9
- X weight
- 32 oz
Terms of Sale
Flamingo Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Flamingo Books
Biblio member since 2011
Menifee, California
About Flamingo Books
Flamingo Books specializes in scarce and unusual nonfiction books and ephemera, with an emphasis on the natural sciences, religion, law, history and antiquarian titles.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Device
- Especially for older books, a printer's device refers to an identifying mark, also sometimes called a printer's mark, on the...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Brodart
- Generally used to refer to a clear plastic cover that is sometimes added to the dustjacket or outside covering of a book. The...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.