A Room with a View - Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window

12:00 AM


A Room with a View
Examining the Film through an Art Historian's Lens
Curated by Melissa Martin

Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, Johannes Vermeer, 1657-1658
"Afar off, the towers of Florence. And she wandered as though in a dream through the wavering sea of barley, touched with crimson stains of poppies. All unobserved, he came to her. Isn't it immortal? There came from his lips no wordy protestations such as formal lovers use. No eloquence was his, nor did he need it. He simply enfolded her in his manly arms..." - Eleanor Lavish Love at first sight is no myth. It happens rarely, but when it strikes, life changes drastically. That's how I feel about Johannes Vermeer. As my junior self sat wide-eyed in the bewildering Renaissance Art History class, I found solace in the delicate portraits from Vermeer. The soft lighting calmed me, the subject matter engaged me, and the perfectly organized composition intrigued me. I couldn't get enough of his classic Dutch genre paintings, and I still can't. An unhealthy obsession with Vermeer's works planted a seed in my mind to craft a collection around. My favorite works of his often feature windows that illuminate the setting and character, so why not use that as a jumping-off point? Thus, "A Room with a View" was born. The title that developed in my subconscious eventually prompted me to re-watch A Room with a View, a boring and lengthy movie I hadn't seen for years. Goodness, was I wrong. Though slow at times, I thoroughly enjoyed giving it a second chance. Now, I could relate the film with Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window on content alone (suppressed females aching to escape the restrictions of society, but that would be too obvious). For me, these two works share an abstract commonality: the ability to fall in love so effortlessly. Much like Lucy Honeychurch and George Emerson adore each other, I very much fancy Mr. Vermeer.

Share This Story

Tags: , ,

You Might Also Like

0 comments