Inspired by Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer; The Moody Cow with the Pearl Earrings is my more modern take on what I think the Dutch Master would have thought should be on your walls had he have been around now.
(COWS WITH EARRINGS! You love it!)
Why not have it on your bedroom wall and remind yourself every morning that when you hear the infernal 'RING, RING, RING' of your alarm clock that you clearly are a bundle of light, joy and benefaction?!
To remind you of this fact, the text on the impressionistic digital art canvas reads:
"You'd Be A Moody Cow As Well If They Made You Wear These Earrings!'
Buy it for yourself.
Buy it for someone else (but only if they actually have a sense of humor!)
We are sure that Vermeer would be proud!
The original 'Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer' was painted in 1665, and is now in the collection of the Mauritshius art museum in the Hague, Holland (it is on their website here if you want to go have a peak :-))
In 2006, it was voted as the most beautiful painting in the Netherlands by the Dutch public (though, in fairness, 'The Moody Cow with the Pearl Earrings' wasn't even a twinkle in my eye then, so the Dutch Peoples have never had the opportunity to vote for the 'upgraded' cow version!)
The original version is actually smaller then you may realize (17.5 inches high by 15 inches wide), which is proof that great things can come in small packages.
Interestingly, it was not intended as a portrait. Instead it was a 'tronie' (which is a 17th Century Dutch word meaning 'face'), that shows an exaggerated facial expression or a stock character in costume. This accounts for why the girl was wearing an oriental turban and an improbably large pearl earring, because the focus of the art form was on capturing a kind of facial spectacle, rather then on the girl, who was intended more as a mysterious archetype, then as a 'real' woman.
Indeed, it still isn't agreed among experts whether the girl in the picture was a figment of Vermeer's imagination, or if there was a real sitter.
(Ohhh Ok. It was Scarlett Johansson though right?)
The original name that Vermeer seems to have given the picture was 'Tronie Painted in the Turkish fashion' (which the picture was listed under at the time of Vermeer's death), which also serves to illustrate that in his mind the form of the painting was more important then the sitter, even if there was one... (in fact, it was only towards the end of the 20th century that the picture became known by the common, Girl with a Pearl Earring title that we now know it as).
In reality of course the soft fluidity of the face, the eyes that seem to look at your very heart, the gentle effervescence of the shading on the right-hand side of her face are all elements that capture us.
AND THAT IS JUST THE COW VERSION!!!
Anyhow, my cow is also very fetching in my (not very humble) opinion.
So, cow lovers, cow aficionados, lovers of pearl earrings, moody cows.
Have at it!
Vermeer wants you to upgrade to this version!
PS Makes a great gift for yourself or that special moody someone!
(You know who you are...)
