Next
Dinesh

Dinesh club

Posted: 19 Sep 2023

Taken: 18 Sep 2023

0 favorites     2 comments    72 visits

Keywords

206 •
From •
HISTORY OF BEAUTY •
Edited by •
Umberto Eco •
Link •
Ashok Karra •
Fairuse •

Authorizations, license

Visible by: Everyone
All rights reserved
72 visits

Woman Pouring Milk

Woman Pouring Milk
Johannes Vermeer, ~ Artist

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Vermeer

en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Milkmaid_(Vermeer)&wprov=rarw1
Translate into English
Comments
 Dinesh
Dinesh club
The painter is master of all the things that may come to man’s mind, and so if he wishes to see beauties of which he may become enamored he has the power to make them, and if he wishes to see monstrous things that terrify him, clownish and comical things, or truly pitiful things, he is the lord and creator of them. . . . Page 178

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vermeer used a complex technique involving opaque layers, translucent glasses, and diffuse highlights laid over one another in order to depict optical phenomena, including his signature “spectacular,” or mirrorlike, highlights. . . . HoweverVermeer’s method of including highlights as part of his layering technique was unique. In ‘The Milk Maid,’ Vermeer laid down a rich orange-brown mixed with lead white and lead-tin yellow. He then added dabs of white and off-white paint, following a glaze of red lake. Over these layers he added further points of white to the bread and basket to front spectacular highlights. ~ Page 212

From Eye of the BeholderLaura Snyder - Authoress
2 years ago. Edited 2 years ago.
 Dinesh
Dinesh club
encouragement.ghost.io/wislawa-szymborska-vermeer

The Milkmaid presents the stateliness of a handcrafted world. I don't want to indulge that naively; the Dutch colonized and enslaved others across the globe in Vermeer's day. There is no innocent, romantic moment where we create or consume art. We do this despite ourselves.

In this painting, a plain wall across from a window shines with daylight. Technically negative space, it infuses the room with brightness, framing the subject at work. The milkmaid herself stands central, wearing a brownish-yellow top, textured blue apron, and red skirt. Her expression as she pours the milk into a pot is curious. Is she focused on the task of pouring? What is she contemplating? A table full of bread is her workspace; behind her, in the corner, is a wooden box, a foot warmer. Small, decorative tiles are on a wall behind it. It's hard to see what's on the tiles, but one of them features Cupid.

Milkmaids were objectified sexually at the time. A number of paintings then showed milkmaids looking, as the kids say, "thirsty," surrounded by symbols of erotic love. The symbols are there in this painting, but they are subdued. What stands out is craft. You observe the different textures of each of the milkmaid's garments; bread whole and torn; baskets solidly weaved; earthenware which refuses to be decorative.

Is this what Szymborska appeals to in her assertion that the world doesn't deserve the world's end?

Szymborska cites the "painted quiet and concentration" of the milkmaid. Her action and focus is renewed each time she's seen; she "keeps pouring milk day after day / from the pitcher to the bowl." Because of this, "the World hasn't earned / the world's end."
Does that seem enough to save the world? Szymborska appeals to the intensity of our efforts. That we would take our time to carefully pour, that we would invest our mental energy in making sure one line is drawn properly or one word strikes with impact. This justifies us. It makes sense when we reflect on the carelessness and inhumanity of many in power. They are unjustified; much of the damage they do comes from sloppiness and arrogance. However, there is a more serious challenge. What about those who read, write, consider problems carefully, and stand squarely in a world of their own delusion? Or hatred?
You might say such people don't exist. I have news: I've encountered plenty of monsters who have immersed themselves in what they think is a moral vision. They have what they think are rich discussions. They too build an intensity of detail. As a prominent commentator noted, white supremacist "scholars" exist in the academy, continually citing the bullshit of other white supremacist "scholars." This recently resulted in a student winning an award for saying that "We the People" requires ethnic cleansing.
For myself, I'm struck by the simplicity of the action of pouring the milk. We can list things like it, which also picture the grace reality has: taking a lovely walk, eating salt water taffy, writing a letter, organizing photos, etc. Those graces are earned because they don't deny the everyday and what it requires. By contrast, think about what it is like to be inseparable from cable news, books written by cranks, websites awash in conspiracy theories. Everyone else has to be blamed because no aspect of life can be enjoyed.
3 months ago. Edited 5 weeks ago.

Sign-in to write a comment.