This is not so!
I have learned, via my sister, that my aunt Anne has tracked down the title and artist. The painting is "Zigeunermeisje" (Gypsy Girl), by Frans Hals, 1628-30, and it hangs in the Louvre.
What is a little strange is that I went to the Louvre in 2004, and this is what I wrote about my visit: "We tried to find Vermeer but discovered that that section was closed that day, which was unfortunate because I had a suspicion that the original of the terrifying picture in Chimney Swallows was in there somewhere among the Vermeer. I wanted to see it. I thought it would be like an exorcism."
Since it is a century earlier than Vermeer, it was probably not in the same room. Which means I could well have wandered around a corner and come face to face with this:
The "exorcism" I so coolly anticipated would, I think, have consisted of me screaming mightily, being restrained, and then deported.
I will admit, as my sister pointed out, she looks a little less scary in color. BUT NOT MUCH.
4 comments:
It does look rather Vermeer-esque... Is the artist Dutch as well? (Wasn't he Dutch? Or am I thinking of someone else entirely???)
Yes, you are quite right! They are both Dutch. But Hals lived from 1580-1666 and Vermeer lived from 1632-75. I personally think they look similar but Wikipedia does not agree with itself as to whether they fall into the same era . . . of painting . . . or something. I never took my art history credit in college, so I dunno.
Face your fears, Simon -- Frans Hals is worth it! (If I hadn't been internet AWOL earlier this summer, I could have saved you the trouble here. My bad.)
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