Review of Andrew Graham-Dixon's Vermeer Audiobook: A Precise and Authoritative Guide

The author offers fascinating insights into how the Dutch painter worked, including fresh perspectives on Girl with a Pearl Earring. In the decades after Johannes Vermeer died in 1675, few knew his name or his work. He was so obscure that his paintings were sold under the forged signatures of more popular artists. Everything changed in the mid-nineteenth century, when his art was being assessed by French critics

In the decades after Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer's death in 1675, few knew his name or his work. He was so unknown that his paintings were sold with forged signatures of more popular artists. Everything changed in the mid-nineteenth century, when his art was reevaluated by French critics. Today, Vermeer is one of the world's most admired painters, although, says art historian Andrew Graham Dixon, he has "proven to stubbornly resist interpretation".

Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found, Graham Dixon's biography, six years in the making, attempts to answer some unresolved questions, including: What was Vermeer's life like? Why did he paint the way he did? What was the purpose of his paintings that there are only 36 paintings? Unlike the Dutch genre painters of his time, the Delft-born Vermeer painted majestic yet luminous works depicting women in domestic settings engaged in activities such as reading, writing, playing music or pouring milk. His ability to provide light, and its softening effect on rooms and people, was unparalleled.

Graham Dixon is the book's narrator and his reading is sharp, authentic and moving. In addition to visualizing the world in which Vermeer lived and theorizing his relationship with his patrons, the author offers a fascinating new perspective—admittedly one that is impossible to prove—about the identity of the girl with the pearl earring.

Anyone who doubts whether sound is the best medium for exploring life or the genius of a Dutch master will be pleased to find an audiobook attachment containing many color pages of Vermeer's paintings.

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