Books By Theme (BBT): Vermeer

In the past couple of weeks, I've picked up a few recommendations for a variety of books having to do with the artist Johannes (or Jan or Johan) Vermeer. I'm thinking of I Was Vermeer (non-fiction), Chasing Vermeer (YA), Girl with a Pearl Earring (fiction), to start. I'm sure there are many other books that mention Vermeer in some way, and of course there are lots art books showing his works. I'd be curious to see what people could suggest as good reading related to him.

Our suggestions so far:

Non-Fiction
I Was Vermeer: The Forger Who Swindled the Nazis
Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World
The Irish Game: A True Story of Crime and Art
The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century
The Man Who Made Vermeers
The Embarassment of Riches

Fiction
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Girl in Hyacinth Blue
The Music Lesson

Children's and Young Adult
Chasing Vermeer

Another Vermeer book:

Girl in Hyacinth Blue - fiction with reverse chronological short stories about the life of an imaginary Vermeer painting. At least, I'm pretty sure the painting is imaginary...

I read it ages ago, when it was new, and about the same time as Girl with a Pearl Earring was around (I got the two titles confused, actually). I rather liked it, but I was just starting to explore different narrative techniques, and the reverse chronology of the short stories really appealed to me.

How very cool Keri! I have heard of this one but hadn't looked it up yet. Short stories are a great addition!

In my TBR stash I have Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World. I haven't read it yet so I can't tell you what to expect from it.

A couple of years ago I read The Irish Game: A True Story of Crime and Art. It included enough about Vermeer that I used "Vermeer" as one of my tags for it. I thought the book was interesting but could have been better organized.

Just dropping to second Girl in Hyacinth Blue. I don't normally read historical fiction but loved this one...

I have on my shelf The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century by Edward Dolnick and I'm looking for a reason to open it up and read it this year.

I read The Man Who Made Vermeers after seeing a group discussion with high recommendations on a literature site. Although I didn't much care for the book, it certainly has an interesting story to tell and does have direct linkage to Vermeer. Others in the group loved it.

Another book, which isn't strictly about Vermeer, although there are a couple of references to him in it, is The Embarassment of Riches, a lengthy but quite interesting work on the Dutch Golden Age.

2, 5> I'll third Girl in Hyacinth Blue. The painting in the book is imagined, but the last story focuses on Vermeer and the creation of the painting. I used it in a class, along with excerpts from Girl with a Pearl Earring.

#4 Thanks for those suggestions. If you do read Vermeer's Hat, would be great if you came back to post your review here.

#5 & 8 Looks like Girl in Hyacinth Blue is a must-read. I'm putting it on the WL.

#6 Sounds very interesting Bonnie, hurry up to read it and give us your review! (no rush, just a figure or speech of course)

#7 I like your suggestions an Embarassment of Riches sounds interesting too.

Just passing by to second I Was Vermeer. Having read it a couple of weeks ago, I can say it's truly fascinating (and it's still in stock, albeit no longer 50% off, at BookCloseOuts.com, where I picked it up myself). :)

Krys, it's definitely worthwhile buying the book there at the price it's listed. I was going to order it just now but see it's worth shopping around the site to find other books which will help spread out the shipping cost. Thanks for the link!

#6 : Bonnie : The Forger's Spell is really an excellent book. Maybe I should give you a little nudging reminder every once in a while to start reading it.

12: I had The Forger's Spell out of the library over the summer, but things got away from me and I never got around to reading it properly. Flipping through and looking at bits here and there (also the included photos/illustrations!) made it look pretty awesome, though. I'll need to get it out again soonish to actually read.

Is it possible the The Forger's Spell and I was Vermeer are both accounts of the same events?

The Forger's Spell discusses the Vermeer case that I was Vermeer is about, but it's also about a slightly broader look at art forgeries and Vermeer and art forensics, iirc.

I wonder which one would be better off to start off with?

It probably depends on whether you're more interested in the biography and details of the specific art forger, or in art forensics in general, I'd say.

Though for myself, I'd choose The Forger's Spell first, and then if I were interested in learning more about the specific case, I was Vermeer after that. General -> specific, yes?

That makes sense. I always have a hard time deciding if I want to go big picture to small or the other way 'round. lol

I thought The Forger's Spell was a fascinating read. I also loved Girl in Hyacinth Blue. The latter was the first piece of art fiction that I read and started me reading a number of other books inspired by real or fictional artwork. The Music Lesson is about the theft of a fictional Vermeer painting and was a decent read.

You've convinced me. I'll have to get my hands on The Forger's Spell soon. And Girl in Hyacinth Blue. The Music Lesson sounds familiar to me, I'll have to look it up. I love stories about art theft.