'The Mathematician'
Oil on canvas 82 x 82cm
1999
Oil on canvas 82 x 82cm
1999
This painting was inspired by Vermeer’s ‘The Geographer’, a
richly detailed work with soft light spreading from the window on the
left. A variety of the tools of
the geographer’s trade, map, compasses, globe, are depicted.
A young mathematics tutor at the University of Stirling became the model for the painting. I loved her glorious red hair with the glowing pink of her woollen top. She is surrounded by the modern tools of the mathematician’s trade, books, computer, calculator and most important, even now, pen and paper. The antiquity of the computer immediately dates this painting! The tapestry cushion echoes the tapestry throw in the foreground of Vermeer’s work. |
Vermeer 'The Geographer'
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