Vermeer by Wislawa Symborska

Vermeer

So long as that woman from the Rijksmuseum
in painted quiet and concentration
keeps pouring milk day after day
from the pitcher to the bowl
the World hasn't earned
the world's end.

(from her collection, Here)

Vermeer, A Little Life, Hokusai in Boston and Coming Out Stories: Cultural Digest for August 5

Vermeer and love

• Really interesting interview at The Millions with the writer of one of this year's most buzzed about books, A Little Life. The work has been raved about, the writer seemingly coming from nowhere and creating a literary stir that has been praised almost universally. No, I haven't read it yet but the more I read about it, the more intrigued I am.
• Moving piece in The Paris Review yesterday about Vermeer's evocative & haunting scenes and what they can teach us about love, inspiring Michael White's book Travels in Vermeer.
• I'm really dying to see this exhibition on 18th century Japanese artist, Hokusai, now showing in Boston. Road Trip!
• Happy to see that the Montreal Gazette is doing this video series on Coming Out Stories by well-known Montrealers. 
• Chinese Guzheng player, Bei Bei, mesmerizes with her "strange instrument of beauty." 

Hokusai in Boston