Monday 8 June 2015

Lesley Hicks / Johannes Vermeer



Johannes Vermeer
View of Delft
c.1660-1661
oil on canvas
96,5  x 115,7 cm


‘The View of Delft’ by Vermeer possesses the freshness of sunshine after rain and although it was his hometown, for me it has all the visual excitement of venturing into a place for the very first time.

My watercolour ‘view of Antwerp from south of the river’ was painted with a nod to Vermeer’s great work, during my first walk into that city. The light, skyline and river were too enticing to pass by without recording that particular, never to be repeated moment, a moment of anticipation.

When working out in the open in this way I find the process and urgency of decisions – where to begin – what to leave out - the scale of mark - happen so quickly as to be almost beyond thought.  As instinct kicks in - the accumulation of decisions crystallize into the painting.

Lesley Hicks, 2015




Lesley Hicks (UK)
View of Antwerp from South of the River
2010
watercolour, ink and acrylic on paper
14 x 21 cm



1 comment:

  1. A lovely response both in words and in paint. I saw View of Delft in The Hague. One of my OU students was a guide at The Mauritshaus and she took me there early before the public were admitted. Just me, The View of Delft and The Girl With Pearl Earring. Thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

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