What is the Value of Art in One's Life?

An interesting and thought provoking read, the book Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland weaves a tale using the history of a painting by Vermeer to explore the perceptions that people have of beauty and values. The painting transforms and affects lives of all ages, classes and genders. It poses the question of value: is art for art’s sake, for monetary, intrinsic value or personal gratification?

The painting itself saves the life of an innocent child and is the reason another innocent child’s life is taken. And throughout the history of the painting and the lives of those it touched, the questions come back for the reader to answer, transforming the past to the present, asking the reader the value of art in one’s life.

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