Sylvie Germain: Atelier of Light

For a painter, light (lumière) is like the song of words to a poet or the melody of silence to a musician: a source and horizon of desire, and the focus of love that constantly keeps them alert and calls to them. In that sense, the three painters introduced in this book could be called 'masters of light.' Yet the title is actually contradictory, because these things are not hiding a riddle; they are part of an infinite mystery. It would therefore be more accurate to say that every great painter is a disciple of light. Writer Sylvie Germain opens up the worlds of three painters—Piero della Francesca, Johannes Vermeer, and Georges de La Tour—at the intersection of art and spiritual inquiry. This book is a hymn to poetry and painting. It collects Germain's writing on works by Piero della Francesca, Johannes Vermeer, and Georges de La Tour, who share an obsession with light and an interplay between inner life and the way they see the world. Published in 1998, 1993, and 1997 respectively, the three essays defend art as an object of wonder rather than study. The inner feelings the writer experiences while looking at quiet, secretive canvases lead them into a dreamlike realm between the visible and invisible. Located at the intersection of art and spiritual inquiry, Germain's essays are less meticulous analyses of the painters' work than free interpretations. They are closer to meditations based on the world of painting and to a spiritual practice that offers reflection on works of art.

Korean title: 빛의 아틀리에

Korean author: 실비 제르맹

Korean publisher: 마르코폴로

ISBN-13: 9791192667515