Cocktails with a Curator: Vermeer's "Mistress and Maid"

In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” Curator Aimee Ng pulls back the curtain on hidden details in “Mistress and Maid,” the largest of the Frick’s three Vermeer paintings and Henry Clay Frick’s final acquisition for his collection. Take a closer look at the rumpled tablecloth, the lady’s wispy curls, and the dark background to understand how this mysterious work has changed since Vermeer applied paint to canvas in the mid-17th century. For this week’s complementary cocktail, the Genever Brûlée, Aimee has dipped into the bottle of genever she featured in her summer episode on Vermeer’s “Officer and Laughing Girl.”
To view this painting in detail, please visit our website: www.frick.org/...

[@frickcollection]

FEATURED COCKTAIL: Genever Brûlée (genever, brown sugar, classic bitters, orange bitters, sparkling water, caramelized orange slice); the mocktail is orange juice, orange blossom water, and sparkling water, also garnished with a caramelized orange slice. For the complete recipes, visit www.frick.org/cocktails-curator For more information on the technical examination of this painting, please visit: www.frick.org/blogs/curatorial/new_discoveries_fricks_vermeer

[@stardresser1]

I'm still loving, revisiting, and so very appreciative of this series. I cant WAIT to go to the Frick again, when next I am in NYC. It's been a wonderful thing, to stay connected to the arts, through the Frick. Thank you, enjoying again a few years later!

[@cammythomas9291]

I treasure every one of these events. Thanks to both Xavier and Aimee for illuminating these great works of art.

[@nelsonx5326]

My sweetheart in Virginia was a big fan of the book and movie 'Girl With a Pearl Earring' and loved the painting too. So I drove her to NYC and we went to the Frick to see this painting.

[@karencilman3002]

I love this series and look forward to the time I'll be able to travel to NYC and visit the Frick again :-)

[@rustyeire]

Delightful presentation . . . and yet another affirmation of my firm belief that Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" was mistitled (long after Vermeer's death). Comparing nearly every rendition of pearls, large and small, by the artist in an assortment of his paintings leads me to conclude that the large earring in "Girl" is metallic, most likely silver. In any event, mysteries vis-à-vis Vermeer abound. A superb artist, and we New Yorkers are blessed to have such a generous dollop of his work, at both the Frick and the Met. Kudos to Ms. Ng . . . and all the Frick curators for providing these wonderful Friday cocktail hours (hope it was okay to substitute Irish whiskey for the Genever Brûlée) with sidecar aperçus into genius. . . .

[@caregivergirlk]

In my next life I hope to be a curator at the Flick. Thankyou for your style. Your grace, knowledge, sense of humour and manner of speaking are so appealing!!!

[@andymorrall]

Very good . 2 small suggestions: a) Add a link to this video on the museum website, and b) show a version of the painting in the original colours, as Vermeer intended us to see it.

[@magicjoeblack5761]

Fricking fabulous series of utter gems. You Guys Rock.

[@cynthiachaplincamput8813]

I can't tell you how much I've been enjoying these talks! Thank you! I've just donated - and it was so easy - literally three taps on my touchscreen. I'm so pleased to support the Frick. When I return to NYC and the Frick I will expect to see Xavier and Aimee walking the galleries and offering us cocktails!

[@lesleyg.8976]

Another wonderful presentation, and this is among my favorite works at The Frick! Thank you, dear Aimee!

[@thelongroadhome7582]

Especially wonderful while we are locked down and cannot visit. Thank you.

[@gabrielagurgui9026]

Great presentation . Thank you. Happy Friday !

[@marthahorton8952]

Cocktails with the Curator is one of my very favorite things to watch. Congratulations, and I can't wait to see the new Frick Madison.

[@M-T-123]

Something to look forward to at the end of the week

[@djsmith9567]

My wife and I always look forward to these presentations and hope everyone who enjoys them will join us and make an online donation to support the Frick Collection. DJ Smith, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

[@josemariagutierrez8281]

Lovely and very interesting video. I was not aware of many of the points mentioned by Aimee, who by the way is a very pleasant and nice girl, who really knows how to tell a story. I really loved it and learned more about my Master Number 1 in painting, so thank you so much. Cheers and congratulations from Bogotá to all of you who had anything to do with this production.

[@reneemcart3572]

The follow up article on the examination of the painting was fascinating. Frick curators and their compatriots at the other institutions are truly art history sleuths! Fascinating!!!

[@sandrabrennan1824]

Recently began this series. Really enjoy it!

[@M-T-123]

Then you’re in for a treat!🐾🎶🐾

[@drk7188]

Great video. Thank you for your passion for artwork about Vermeer .. and this painting. Thank you! Stay safe. Be safe. Again .. thank you for these videos. These help me feel like I am in a museum. Wonderful!!

[@sallyvanzwol1337]

I love these videos. I made a donation to support the Frick.

[@Amc933]

Excellent. Love the "hidden" image discovery....

[@operalove7221]

Wonderful. Thank you.

[@dr.nicholaswood4916]

Thank you Aimee ,you are the best .Cannot wait to visit the frick again!

[@barbararey-constantin5679]

Thank you very much. :)

[@tiffinimorgan1867]

Such a life raft. Thank-you!

[@lynn_anderson2]

Very interesting, thank you!☺️

[@cynthiascott1335]

Vermeer is one of my favorite artists. So well done, Aimee. Loved it. Thanks so much!

[@susanfriberg3735]

Wonderful! Thank you

[@francoisemarcus2604]

Thank you for this wonderful series. I look forward to each new episode.

[@elie-annechevrier9854]

Brilliant as alway!

[@Leebearify]

How wonderful, thank you so much for this in depth look at Vermeers' picture. He is one of my favorite painters also. There is so much to find out with the newer techniques like IRR. I will definitely be looking for the book you mentioned and I think it is time to find a biography on Vermeer himself. Anyone have a suggestion for me? As always Aimee you are so beautiful it is a joy to listen to you. Cheers !!

[@christopherstromee8162]

There are several bios you can get from the NY public library including this one which is hard to find unless you know the title (see library website): Eye of the beholder : Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the reinvention of seeing Snyder, Laura J. BOOK/TEXT | 2015 Available at 58th Street Non-Fiction (701.0509 S) plus 5 more see all

[@Leebearify]

@@christopherstromee8162 I just found this one on Amazon !! Thank you for the suggestion! I will look at the NY public lib for the others and then see if the library in San Francisco CA happens to have it. How great would that be? And THANK YOU !!!

[@MrZohreh100]

Thank you it was amazing and beautiful as always

[@Duckshots]

you were terrific. sharon and I don't have the money you need, but we made another donation. we are in our 70's, avoiding the covid. want to visit, see the vermeers and listen to you again. late learners, we are.

[@heavenlytraveler]

It looks as if the maids in paintings by other artists also wore brown tops with blue skirts or aprons. Was this the informal uniform of a maid in the Netherlands at that time? If yes, it would mark them out when they went shopping in the market. Lovely presentation, as always. Thank you so much.

[@ANNAANNA-kt9nm]

Great as usually.Grazie!!!

[@mediolanumhibernicus3353]

I love the 18th century map print in the background.

[@markromatz4681]

Thank you! great porgram.

[@M-T-123]

I suggest a book is in order with recipes , paintings et all! Cheers

[@joniboi1000]

I totally agree with Maria Teresa Valdes about the book!!! Thank you for the session(s).

[@jon780249]

Very interesting.

[@janetmackinnon3411]

What apleasant voice! Thank you

[@jamesallison4875]

I miss the pandemic terribly. It gave us so many special opportunities to engage in art. Too bad we can’t do that anymore.

[@hosokawayuko6250]

An amazing picture and an attractive talk! I wonder what the orange strip on the Mistress' skirt is. I would appreciate if anyone educate me on that.

[@mabdub]

Are you aware that part of the painting of the The Girl Reading a Letter was overpainted by someone other than Vermeer and that the wall behind the girl is not bare as we all thought but instead shows a painting of a cupid? The paint was removed and the original painting emerged in 2021. The cupid was previously known from x-rays but until 2019 it was not understood that the overpaint was not done by Vermeer. In light of that discovery I am now curious about the bare wall behind the girl in the Vermeer painting which is in the Frick collection. It seems that in reality Vermeer didn't leave many bare walls in his paintings and that includes the Girl with the Pearl Earring.

[@couvduck60]

Thank you

[@ogieogie]

Marvelous.

[@johns.9819]

i just got of the hospital from covid art history has been a part of my life for 40 years i to lose that would be suck a great lost for me

[@BJcamp]

I very much enjoyed your insight! Do you think the mistress' hand (at her face) is anatomically correct? The fingers, and especially the thumb, seem much too long. Thank you.

[@victoriamilonas1942]

What astonishes me about Girl with a Pearl & this painting is that the light source cannot be identified. It's as though these subjects are generating their own light.

[@tomson70]

🙏🏼 From Sweden

[@PotterWinchester]

Wonderful series. But as a painter, I would have enjoyed even more some commentary on the techniques, palettes, style, etc. used by the artist. WHY is Vermeer regarded as such a marvelous artist? Xavier Solomon has said that he doesn’t talk much about these factors because you can’t really see them via the internet, but you can still do close-ups and explain much verbally.

[@annishilcock4587]

It has been suggested that this, along with Girl in a Red Hat were by his daughter, who worked as his assistant, and made after his death to pay off his debts.

[@pliny159]

whats with her left hand?

[@janie7242]

That Mistree's pearl earing was un-usually hung, too big! Looked so un-real at that time~17th century! Even today pearl market! 🤔🙄 As you said maybe fake=glass pearl! Agree! 🙄

[@MorenoDonato]

Vermeer is the greatest painter ever. He did understand light, but, more significantly, he captured time. You must see his work in person: you are there. No, I did not like the presentation; women must stop being girlish.

[@williambo5989]

1/3 of this video not a bout vermeer

[@Eudaimonia88]

It would be amazing if you did not present your lectures as though your main audience consisted of young children... an educated audience would know about the meaning of "mistress" in this context. The series is a fabulous idea but some of the explanations here feel somewhat condescending. True, we are in lockdown but that doesn't mean we need to dumb down as well.

[@andymorrall]

As Vermeer's 'The Love Letter' seems to show the same people, confusion about the meaning of 'Mistress' is understandable.

[@CFinch360]

Kindly consider that not everyone in the audience is a native English speaker and some are likely students. Thus a tiny bit of additional time spent explaining the vocabulary used, IMHO, adds to a better understanding of the work, rather than detracting from it. I applaud Ms Ng's approach.

[@samrachamin]

Thank you very much, really interesting!!!