Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found

Andrew Graham-Dixon

Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring, ca. 1665

Kenwood’s The Guitar Player by Vermeer is one of the finest paintings in the collection. Last year a new acclaimed biography of Vermeer was published, Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found. Andrew Graham-Dixon will give a revelatory talk on his ground-breaking new biography. He offers a dramatic reassessment of Johannes Vermeer—not as the isolated genius of legend, but as a painter deeply embedded in the radical, intellectual, and political life of the Dutch Golden Age.

In this richly illustrated talk, he will reveal Vermeer’s hitherto unknown friendships, his ties to a radical underground movement, and the powerful women who shaped both his private life and career. Alongside these startling biographical insights, Graham-Dixon presents fresh interpretations of beloved masterpieces, including Girl with a Pearl Earring, A View of Delft, The Milkmaid, and Woman Reading a Letter—recasting them in a bold new light.

Andrew Graham-Dixon is an art historian, biographer and broadcaster who has made more BBC television series about art than any other presenter. For many years he was the main art critic of the Sunday Telegraph and the Independent. His book Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane (2011) was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and has been translated into seven languages. He has judged the Turner Prize, the BP National Portrait Prize and the Annual British Animation Awards, among others. He has also served on the Government Art Collection Committee and currently serves as an ambassador for the Prince’s Teaching Institute and as a member of English Heritage’s Blue Plaques panel.