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Events
Jun. 30 | 2012 Bode-Pearson Prize
Nominations for the 2012 Bode-Pearson Prize for Outstanding Contributions to American Studies due
Jun. 30 | 2012 Mary C. Turpie Prize
Nominations for the 2012 Mary C. Turpie Prize for Outstanding Contributions to American Studies Teaching, Advising, and Program Development due
Oct. 1 | Travel Grants for Graduate Students
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Resources: Abstracts of American Studies Dissertations
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Glass, Marguerite. "Vermeer in Dialogue: From Appropriation to Response," American Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, September 2003.
Art’s intrinsic value rests in the response it conjures and the information this response can convey about the culture in which it resides. The paintings of the 17th century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer have proved relevant to our contemporary culture. Scholarly discourse on Vermeer and his paintings, as well as their exhibition, their reproduction in diverse media, and their appropriation, have created dialogues on Vermeer that promote understanding of his meaning today. Surrounding Vermeer with these dialogues provides understanding of how meaning has been ascribed to this artist and what this meaning is. The exhibition forum has shifted Vermeer s paintings into the full view of a broad international audience, made the artist and his paintings celebrities, and established Vermeer’s aesthetic as a cultural emblem of beauty open to public response and interpretation. This thesis examines the context of five museum exhibitions between 1995 and 2003, and discusses the appropriation of Vermeer’s paintings by other artists, writers, filmmakers and their critics. Critical methods from art history, visual culture studies, film studies, consumer culture studies, anthropology, and ethnography are employed. Appropriation is an important theme in our contemporary culture, yet there is also an historical context through which it has evolved. Artists have engaged in appropriation throughout art history, and many traditional motivations for appropriation remain presently relevant. Methods of reproduction have tremendously affected the evolution of painting since the development of print in the 15th century. Reproduction methods since the 19th century have accelerated the methods of appropriating paintings. The reproduction of Vermeer’s paintings since the 19th century, especially through museum exhibitions and accompanying media response, have popularized his images and encouraged their use as a way of conceptualizing and contextualizing ideas of refinement, perfection, and beauty.
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