Johannes Vermeer would have made a great interior designer. He knew how to create overall harmony in his paintings, all interiors, while allowing essential elements to "pop." And unlike most painters of any era, he used particular items in common household scenes to enliven his work. Most painters simply blur out any items that compete with the central subject matter. Vermeer included and harmonized many elements and enlivened his now priceless works in the process.
Young Woman with a Water Pitcher dates 1665-6. Oriental rugs were prized items of the well-to-do, so much so that they were rarely used as rugs. In this case the red rug with blue highlights serves as a table cover.
Veremeer may have cheated the blue in the rug to a brighter hue to balance the brilliant blue dress of the the girl opening the window. Or the blue elements in the rug could have been made of silk and "popped" the way he shows in the painting.
When the rug is on the floor, it tends to support the design of the room. In this painting as a table cover, it complements and counterbalances the overall blue atmosphere and the girl's dress.
Many thanks to the website Essential Vermeer, an outstanding resource for in depth study of this outstanding artist.
| Neutral Space |
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Even the negative space, the neutral space is thought through. The map over the young lady's left shoulder was originally behind her head. Vermeer moved it further to our right, perhaps so as not to upstage her. Maybe the map denotes that her father was an international merchant. The rug and the pearls are definitely imports. Click on the image to ENLARGE. |
| Color Balance |
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There is almost a Virgin Mary blue theme to the painting. The window panes seem to be tinted blue. The scroll bar with finials at the bottom of the map is blue. The cloak on the chair is blue. Her dress is blue and trimmed in gold. Vermeer used the rug with its strong primary red to balance. The rug worked as a great partner, perhaps because of its brilliant decorative blue elements. Vermeer was a master of primary colors. In this case the blue dress is the star color feature supported by the red. It's too bad that interior designers can design the clothes of the people who will use the interios. Click on the image to ENLARGE. |
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