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Published Jul 2023
272 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
New York Times bestselling author and art critic Laura Cumming reveals the fascinating, little-known story of the Thunderclap - the massive explosion at a gunpowder store in Holland that killed Carel Fabritius, renowned painter of The Goldfinch and nearly killed Johannes Vermeer, painter of Girl with a Pearl Earring - two of the greatest artists of the 17th century.
As a brilliant art critic and historian, Laura Cumming has explored the importance of art in life and can give us a perspective on the time and place in which the artist worked. Now, through the lens of one dramatic event in 17th century Holland, Cumming illuminates one of the most celebrated periods in art history.
In 1654, an enormous explosion at a gunpowder store devasted the city of Delft, killing hundreds of people and injuring thousands more. Among those killed was the extraordinary painter Carel Fabritius, renowned for his paintings The Goldfinch and his haunting masterpiece A View of Delft, which depicts the very streets through which the victims would be carried to their graves. Fabritius's contemporary and rival Vermeer, painter of the iconic portrait Girl with a Pearl Earring, narrowly escaped death.
Framing the story around Fabritius's life, Cumming deftly weaves a sequence of observations about paintings and how they relate to everyday life. Like Dutch art itself, the story gradually links country, city, town, street, house, interior—all the way to the bird on its perch, the blue and white tile, the smallest seed in a loaf of bread. The impact of a painting and how it can enter our thoughts, influence our views, and understanding of the world is the heart of this book and Cumming has brought her unique eye to her most compelling subject yet.
Featuring beautiful full-color images of Dutch paintings throughout, this is a stunningly rich book about one of the most vibrant periods in European art and life.
"A tender homage to art, Cumming melds memoir, art history, and biography in an elegant, beautifully illustrated meditation on art, desire, imagination, and memory. From shards of evidence, Cumming has created a nuanced portrait of an enigmatic artist whose works have profoundly affected her. Moving reflections rendered in precise, radiant prose." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[V]ivid...In this elegant and luminous work, Cumming writes with deep feeling and knowledge about how "pictures can shore you up, remind you who you are and what you stand for." Art lovers will be enthralled." —Publishers Weekly
"[Through] spellbinding storytelling, Thunderclap is as deftly told as any thriller. It is also an astonishingly rich book about the glories that are revealed to us when we look at great paintings with careful attention, and an open heart. How a work of art can suddenly open our eyes in a thunderclap of clarity." —The Bookseller (UK)
This information about Thunderclap was first featured
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Photo: Sebastian Barfield
Laura Cumming has been the art critic of The Observer (London) since 1999. Previously, she was arts editor of the New Statesman magazine, literary editor of the Listener, and deputy editor of Literary Review. She is a former columnist for the Herald and has contributed to the London Evening Standard, The Guardian, L'Express, and Vogue. Her book The Vanishing Velazquez was longlisted for the Bailie Gifford Prize and was a New York Times bestseller.
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