Drawn by the Brush: Oil Sketches by Peter Paul Rubens

Oil sketches by Peter Paul Rubenscreated at speed and in the heat of invention with a colorful loaded brushconvey all the spontaneity of the great Flemish painter’s creative process. This ravishing book draws from both private and public collections to present in full color 40 of Rubens’s oil sketches. Viewers will find in these informal paintings an enchanting intimacy and gain a new appreciation of Rubens’s capacity for invention and improvisation, and of his special genius for dramatic design and coloristic brilliance. The book investigates the role of the oil sketch in Rubens’s work; the development of the artist’s themes and narratives in his multiple sketches; and the history of the appreciation of his oil sketches. It also explores some of the unique aspects of his techniques and materials. By revealing the oil sketches as the most direct record of Rubens’s creative process, the book presents him as the greatest and most fluent practitioner of this vibrant and vital medium.

Arts & Photography

Sutton, Peter C.

Wieseman, Marjorie E.

History & Criticism

Yale University Press

Diminutive marvels of artistry and fine craftsmanship, portrait miniatures reveal a wealth of information within their small frames. They can tell tales of cultural history and biography, of people and their passions, of evolving tastes in jewelry, fashion, hairstyles, and the decorative arts. Unlike many other genres, miniatures have a tradition in which amateurs and professionals have operated in parallel and women artists have flourished as professionals. This richly illustrated book presents approximately 180 portrait miniatures selected from the holdings of the Cincinnati Art Museum, the largest and most diverse collection of its kind in North America. The book stresses the continuity of stylistic tradition across Europe and America as well as the vitality of the portrait miniature format through more than four centuries. A detailed catalogue entry, as well as a concise artist biography, appears for each object. Essays examine various aspects of miniature painting, of the depiction of costume in miniatures, and of the allied art of hair work.

Perfect Likeness: European and American Portrait Miniatures from the Cincinnati Art Museum

Aronson, Julie

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

How do experts spot masterpieces? Paintings are not always signed or noted in historical records, so how can we tell an obscure gem from an altered image? Scientists, conservators and art historians use a range of methods to examine the physical nature of pictures and unravel their hidden histories. Through a series of intriguing examples and clearly explained processes, this new addition to the National Gallery’s popular Closer Look series will draw the reader into the complex issues—not all of them fully resolved—confronted by gallery professionals.

A Closer Look: Deceptions and Discoveries

National Gallery London

Focusing on the extraordinary Lacemaker from the Musée du Louvre, this beautiful book investigates the subtle and enigmatic paintings by Johannes Vermeer that celebrate the intimacy of the Dutch household. Moments frozen in paint that reveal young women sewing, reading or playing musical instruments, captured in Vermeer's uniquely luminous style, recreate a silent and often mysterious domestic realm, closed to the outside world, and inhabited almost exclusively by women and children. 
Three internationally recognized experts in the field explain why women engaged in mundane domestic tasks, or in pleasurable pastimes such as music making, writing letters, or adjusting their toilette, comprise some of the most popular Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century. Among the most intriguing of these compositions are those that consciously avoid any engagement with the viewer. Rather than acknowledging our presence, figures avert their gazes or turn their backs upon us; they stare moodily into space or focus intently on the activities at hand. In viewing these paintings, we have the impression that we have stumbled upon a private world kept hidden from casual regard. 
The ravishingly beautiful paintings of Vermeer are perhaps the most poetic evocations of this secretive world, but other Dutch painters sought to imbue simple domestic scenes with an air of silent mystery, and the book also features works by some of the most important masters of 17th-century Dutch genre painting, among them Gerard ter Borch, Gerrit Dou, Pieter de Hooch, Nicolaes Maes, and Jan Steen.

Vermeer's Women: Secrets and Silence

Franits, Wayne

Chapman, H. Perry

Featuring detailed scenes of court pageantry and life-size portraits of members of the French Valois dynasty woven in wool, silk, and precious metal-wrapped threads, the Valois Tapestries are one of the most extravagant sets of hangings produced in the 16th century. The precise circumstances surrounding the tapestries’ commission and their arrival at the Medici court in Florence, as well as the significance of the specific scenes depicted, however, have eluded scholars for years. Presenting new research into the political maneuvering of the Valois and Medici courts and providing extensive physical analysis gathered during a recent cleaning of the tapestries, this volume offers brand new insight into why these magnificent works were made and what they represent.

Renaissance Splendor: Catherine de’ Medici’s Valois Tapestries

Cleland, Elizabeth

The Cleveland Museum of Art

This delightful book is the second in a series of new guides to the National Gallery's permanent collection. Following the success of "The National Gallery: Manet to Picasso", it focuses on 38 masterpieces of Dutch painting, all made between 1600 and 1740. The book begins with an introduction by Marjorie Wieseman that addresses the formation of the collection and development of Dutch painting in what has become known as its 'Golden Age'. Each work is then reproduced full-page, arranged chronologically, and discussed individually in concise, accessible entries.

Dutch Painting: The National Gallery

Greer, Elena J.

How do experts spot masterpieces? Paintings are not always signed or noted in historical records, so how can we tell an obscure gem from an altered image? Scientists, conservators and art historians use a range of methods to examine the physical nature of pictures and unravel their hidden histories. Through a series of intriguing examples and clearly explained processes, this new addition to the National Gallery’s popular Closer Look series will draw the reader into the complex issues—not all of them fully resolved—confronted by gallery professionals.

A fascinating exploration of the role of music in the art of Vermeer and many of his contemporaries Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) is one of the world’s most captivating artists. Renowned for his sublimely beautiful depictions of everyday Dutch life, Vermeer created exquisite paintings that are sought out by any art lover. Music was a key facet of 17th-century Dutch life, in both public and private. Of Vermeer’s thirty-six surviving paintings, twelve depict musical themes or a musical instrument. These include the magnificent Young Woman Standing at a Virginal, Young Woman Seated at a Virginal, The Music Lesson, and The Guitar Player, all featured in this book.
The book also includes paintings by Vermeer’s contemporaries, such as Gerard ter Borch (1617–1681), Gabriel Metsu (1629–1667), and Jan Steen (c. 1626–1679). Vermeer and Music provides new insight into the cultural significance of these images. A historical overview of musical instruments and entertainment in the Dutch Republic, including the abundant publication of songbooks filled with love songs and poems, some richly illustrated, contextualizes the fascinating relationship between music and the visual arts.

Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure

Individual Artists

The National Gallery, London, is home to a world-renowned collection of Dutch paintings that includes masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, Cuyp, and Ruisdael, among many others. Still lifes painted with painstaking attention to detail, sublime landscapes, vividly human portraits, and intimate interiors: these beloved paintings tell the story of the Dutch Golden Age, when art, science, and trade thrived. Now the National Gallery’s popular 2007 guide to the collection has been revised, featuring an elegant new design and an extended introduction that examines why painting flourished in the 17th-century Dutch Republic, and why it is so enduringly popular today. Striking image details enhance the book and updated, informative texts accompany each work of art. Accessible and illuminating, this guide is essential reading for anyone with an interest in Dutch painting.

Dutch Painting

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wieseman, Marjorie E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Wieseman, Marjorie E.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wieseman, Marjorie E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Drawn by the Brush: Oil Sketches by Peter Paul Rubens

Perfect Likeness: European and American Portrait Miniatures from the Cincinnati Art Museum

Perfect Likeness: European and American Portrait Miniatures from the Cincinnati Art Museum

A Closer Look: Deceptions and Discoveries

Vermeer's Women: Secrets and Silence

Renaissance Splendor: Catherine de’ Medici’s Valois Tapestries

Dutch Painting: The National Gallery

A Closer Look: Deceptions and Discoveries

Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure

Dutch Painting