Bunkamura, Shubuya, Tokyo
23/12/2011 - 14/03/2012
K and I went to an exhibition on 'communication' in Bunkamura last month. Honestly, to an audience like me who is not particularly interested in genre painting, the exhibition is not extremely exciting as a whole. Additionally, the level of painters in this collection varies too much that one cannot avoid feeling frustrated at times.
Yet, the theme of the exhibition -- communication -- really intrigues me. What engages me the most is the section on communication through writing. In the 17th-century Netherlands, letters, in addition to its communicative role in commerce and public affairs, became a popular form for private interaction.
Receiving, writing, and sending letters, cards, and postcards have been my long-term addiction. Even though I have been a heavy user of the Internet, a hopeless addict even, what this electronic invention cannot replace for me in my life is a genuine interest in real letters.
As K rightly points out, the theme of communication is too broadly defined to provide insight, and too general to create coherence within this collection. Here I focus solely on the section which highlights Vermeer's 3 artwork: 'Girl Reading a Letter', 'A Lady Writing' and 'A Lady Writing with Her Maid'.
Undoubtedly, Vermeer's three paintings stand out in the exhibition. His approach and colours create an immediate resonance to the memory that I have about writing, posting off, awaiting, and reading letters. It was my first time to see these three pieces of work in reality. One of them, 'Girl Reading a Letter' (the first below), is on public display for the first time in the world after its recent restoration. An enchanting colour of lapis lazuli is recovered on the canvas. The shade is powerfully embodied and mysterious, but it is also cold in tone. It asserts a sense of centrality that anchors not only the light flowing from the left, but also an ongoing communication and an unceasing exchange of emotions thereof between the sender and receiver through the letter.
Girl Reading a Letter, (c. 1663-64)
The lady in the painting below shines in her yellow coat in the mood for writing. She suspends her task and looks into the direction of the beholder, perhaps the painter or the addressee of the letter. Although some critics suggest that she is the wife of the painter himself, I am not particularly interested in that biographical interpretation. Instead, if the letter in preparation is a message of love, the painting presents a powerful portrayal of a woman in love, no matter it is family love or romantic love. While penning down her affection, she illuminates the room with the emotion contained in her body and the expression of which on the paper. The natural light cleverly brightens the writing space in which a feather pen occupies the centre. How important the pen is here! It channels invisible thoughts and emotion unto the paper, transforming the invisible into the visible. The lady's gaze is tender and touching fully embodying every single trace of her loving thoughts. She is probably temporarily lost in writing, recalling a moment in the past, pondering over how to put it into words, imagining probable reactions of her reader.
Johannes Vermeer,
A Lady Writing, (c. 1665)
The one below is the the third work by Vermeer in this exhibition. The presence of a maid renders the occasion semi-public. The lady who is in the middle of writing seems to be concentrating on her task. Compared with the other two paintings here, this one presents a better-lit space, the source of light is identified through the window, the writing table and the interior are clear to viewers. It is commonly argued that the painting about the Holy Family on the back wall suggests what is being written about in the letter. With the presence of the maid, a bright room like this, and the lady's focused attention to her work, it is very suggestive that she is probably reporting a family business to her husband away from home. Such a letter between family members is probably written with concision but not without affection.
Johannes Vermeer,
A Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid, (c. 1670)
I remember a letter that I once read. During a visit to our previous landlady, at her eighties she was talking about her family history. Her grandfather was once a prime minister during WW II in Japan. A man of high position like him also wrote to his family. The landlady showed me a letter written in English from the grandfather to his son, her father. One of the details that I couldn't forget is in relation to an amount of money enclosed in the letter. As he, the grandfather, wrote, the money was meant for the use of building an addition to the existing house for some purposes. I was very touched by this small detail buried among other reports on his work and his parental advices to the son. His concern and answer to this domestic decision, though expressed in monetary terms, connected him to the family and made him intimately close as a father.
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The two paintings below by different artists are also in display in the same section.
Jacob Ochtervelt,
The Love Letter, (c. 1670)
Frans van Mieris the Elder,
Woman Writing a Letter, (1680)
At the end of the visit to the show, I was also drawn to this trompe-l'oeil painting of a letter rack. I understand that this work probably does not show any creative talent of the artist. However, the way the rack is represented here seems to tell viewers that letter writing shouldn't be thought light of. Emotion is surely the main constituent to a good message, but a good letter cannot be completed without the assistance of professional stationary including envelop-sealing wax, letter opener, feather pen, ink, and stamp. The owner of this rack must be very serious about everything s/he writes and about how s/he writes it, and that seriousness matters much both to the writer and reader.
Edwaert Collier,
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