The Dance of Geometry

The Dance of Geometry
-by Brian Howell
220 pages (2002)

shadows and light

Brian Howell's successful first book, The Dance of Geometry, is an indulgence for all of us art aficionados – those of us who have found ourselves irrevocably lost in a “story” captured on canvas, and the clandestine lives and experiences of the artists themselves.

Howell artfully interweaves three unique perspectives, offering the reader a rare glimpse into the mind and life of 17th century artistic mastermind, Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer – the artist as a child, pliable and vulnerable to influence; Vermeer as an artist in his prime; and a modern-day art copyist in quest of more than a mere replica of the Dutch artist's work. Excerpts of Vermeer’s childhood and experiences which would influence his work later on in his life are melded together, further on in the plane of time, with an abstract narrative of his journey to becoming an ingenious and respected artist in later years. 

The story casts shadows and light on the beautiful harmony, colour, and depth found in Vermeer’s art, possibly enhanced by incorporating the use of a camera obscura, and utilization of de Vries’ perspective and visual field. 

The final chronicle by the modern day art copyist delving into Vermeer’s work and milieu as an artist, is the final ‘signature’ to Howell’s literary work of art.

By and large, The Dance of Geometry is an engrossing piece of abstract work that is worth exploring in detail not unlike Vermeer’s own.

07/19/2004