Private Air New York

www.privateairny.com Private Air | Winter 2021/2022 63 It appears PDH basically painted two versions of the tower in different years and replicated them each time for other canvases. is is surmised due to the second version's lack of freshness and exact replication to the first. e second pair is also painted slightly east on the Oude Delft due to change in perspective in the carillon openings, but all versions reflect views that proceed the bell installation in April 1660. Texas State University astronomer and physics professors published a study in Sky & Telescope Magazine in 2020 on when View of Delft was observed. ey used Google Earth imaging and maps to confirm that the scene was accurately portrayed and then focused on the Nieuwe Kerk tower on a small sliver of light just grazing the central column and illuminating the left one. ey also studied the clock and realized that it had been misinterpreted and actually read 8 AM. e belfry had no bells and so they concluded also that this was viewed before the bells were added in April 1660. ey loaded up all this info in a computer and concluded that this painting likely reflected the view seen on Sept 3-4 1659 at 8 AM in the morning. is may just be the starting date as Vermeer worked meticulously and it is possible it was finished well into 1660 or even 1661. ere is a dialogue between these outdoor pieces but which came first? Due to Vermeer's working methods and De Hooch's expediency and move to Amsterdam in 1660-61, the bets are on De Hooch. One can imagine however that each artist visited each other's studios while pictures were in progress. However, Vermeer was likely not working on this canvas in his town square location just a few blocks from PDH but rather in a makeshift studio where the view was seen itself on the edge of town about a 15 minute walk eastward. Interiors 1660s PDH approached interiors differently than Vermeer. Although his work is essentially about human activity and relationships in an interior, his settings are practically complete paintings in themselves. Take the figure out of a Vermeer however and the picture has a gaping hole and falls apart. His settings are created around the figure while PDH, son of the bricklayer, builds autonomous places where humans can come and go. What we have admired in Vermeer's art has often been the simple story of a female head and a rectangle behind her. Whether underneath, Vermeer's version clearly is the same as PDH's towers in the Rothchild canvas and the Family Portrait. Metropolitan Museum of Art National Gallery, Lond Museo Thyssen- Bornemisza Rijksmuseum ART

• Cover