Woman with Necklace
Homage to Vermeer

54" x 40"
Oil on Canvas
2009

One experiences a happy feeling when looking at the Dutch Interiors painted by Vermeer.  The light is coming from a window, illuminating beautiful tiles on the floor;  a wall with a map or picture on it;  heavy curtains like carpets with beautiful and juicy designs;  female figures busy playing musical instruments, reading letters;  the maid pouring out milk from a pitcher into a bowl;  or a woman is holding a necklace and about to put it on. 

All that is bathed in a soft pearly light.  Wonderful relationships with light and shadow;  very delicious relationships, exciting, with yellow, with grey and blues are like mute sounds of the harpsicord.

On my portrait, the necklace is bigger than nature.  Woman’s happiness is extreme.  It is not just a possession of valuable pearls;  it is her relation to them.  Pearls make her happy because she suddenly feels that she is very beautiful;  and at that moment, she is an avalanche of happiness.  She is alone;  nobody is around to look and make some comments. 

She is alone with pearls;  herself and the Universe;  and that’s what I wanted to express in this painting.  There is no furniture, no tapestry;  no tiles;  no heavy curtains;  no people.  She is just bursting with great joy, just to be alive and beautiful.  She holds those pearls and feels their delicate touch around her neck as an ultimate caress.