SwatTalk: Ruth Yeazell ’67

When the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer died in 1675, he and his work quickly faded into obscurity. It wasn’t until the mid-nineteenth century that his paintings were rediscovered by a French art critic and the Dutch painter entered the pantheon. Subsequent generations have continually rediscovered Vermeer, who, despite his early death at the age of 43 and modest output of perhaps no more than 50 paintings, is today one of the world’s most famous and influential artists.
 

In her new book, Vermeer’s Afterlives, Ruth Yeazell ’67, the Sterling Professor of English at Yale University, chronicles the painter’s extraordinary posthumous impact on art and culture. Telling the stories of the critics, artists, writers, and filmmakers who have expanded, innovated, and sometimes transformed the meaning of Vermeer’s work, Yeazell marks the 350th anniversary of Vermeer’s death by showing how his paintings have taken on afterlives of their own.
 

Please join Ruth for a conversation with Cornell English Professor Anna Shechtman ’13 about Vermeer and Vermeer’s Afterlives.
 

For registrants interested in reading Vermeer's Afterlives, Ruth has kindly provided a discount code: AUEV30