I was going to write about the various styles of painting, and then I started to research Flemish painting, because I don’t know much about it, except that Vermeer painted “The Girl with the Pearl Earring.” Well, stop the presses! Vermeer was a “Dutch” painter, one of the most famous in his lifetime, and “only 35 surviving works are widely attributed to the Dutch painter.” Ponder this. Picasso created about 147,800 pieces of art and Van Gogh 2,000. So, Vermeer, who little is known about, is still a mystery. How many paintings do you suppose he actually painted, and where are they? His color palette of subtle muted blue, gold, red and brown moves me in a melancholy way. And, of course, his striking illumination of light is simply stunning.

As we know, back in the 1500s and yet today, women artists were not recognized and often ostracized, excluded from the art scene. From Google: “Caterina (or Catharina) van Hemessen (1528-1588) was a Flemish Renaissance painter. She is the earliest female Flemish painter; in that she’s one of the only ones who can be verified by the work she left. She is mainly known for her series of small-scale female portraits completed between the late 1540s and early 1550s, and a few religious compositions. Van Hemessen is said to have created the first self-portrait capturing an artist seated at an easel. The portrait was painted in 1548 and shows the artist in the early stages of painting a portrait.”

Impressive, huh? But, she’s not a household name like Michelangelo or Picasso. Women have had a difficult time forging an art career, even though their skills rival that of men. There are dozens of unknown women artists, some of whose art and talents are now available because we have the internet.

Flemish Baroque painting was a style of painting in the Southern Netherlands during Spanish control in the 16th and 17th centuries. Many artists are known by a single name. Michelangelo, Beyonce, Picasso, Cher and Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, known historically as Rembrandt. We all know his name. He is one of the most famous Flemish Baroque artists in an era known as the Dutch Golden Age. Most of us are familiar with his portraits of dark spaces, intense light and interesting texture. Did you know that besides being a painter, he was a printmaker and draughtsman?

From Google: “Baroque art was meant to evoke emotion and passion instead of the calm rationality that had been prized during the Renaissance. Among the greatest painters of the Baroque period are Velázquez, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Rubens, Poussin, and Vermeer.”

The region the Flemish, Dutch, Flemish Baroque and Flemish Renaissance artists produced their magnificent works was in The Netherlands and Belgium.

Art is so important and comprehensive. This is just a little snippet of one style of art, and it was way more sophisticated and detailed than I ever imagined.

Thanks for reading and please contact me at radebaugh.studio@gmail.com.