Girl with a Pearl Earring

Here it is, the end of our official special birthday week—our 5th painting for our 5th birthday. The last but not the least! Today we will present the painting chosen by Justyna, who is DailyArt's first employee, one of the most patient girls I know (especially when it comes to shouting at me that I should do something that is needed for DailyArt) and for sure the bravest girl I know. Without her DailyArt would not have grown so big. She is taking care of our social media (do you follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram?) and begging museums for sharing their fantastic content with us. She is also constantly thinking how to make DailyArt better. I'm very, very lucky she wants to work with us.

You can read more about our 5th birthday here :) And below you can read Justyna's text of the famous Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Once again, thank you for being with us all these years, all your support, beautiful emails, and the great stories you share with us :) - Zuzanna & The Team

Once you read a poem by Wisława Szymborska, you cannot forget it. It is very the same with the art pieces by Johannes Vermeer, Szymborska’s beloved master. For me, Nobel Laureate in Literature Wislawa Szymborska was a queen of subtle, yet precise irony. Please immerse yourself in her poem, In praise of dreams, and take a careful look at Girl with a Pearl Earring, as it is not a portrait, but a tronie—a painting of an IMAGINARY figure.

- Justyna Krupinska

In Prise of Dreams

In my dreams

I paint like Vermeer van Delft.

I speak fluent Greek

and not only with the living.

I drive a car

which obeys me.

I am talented,

I write long, great poems.

I hear voices

no less than the major saints.

You would be amazed

at my virtuosity on the piano.

I float through the air as is proper,

that is, all by myself.

Falling from the roof

I can softly land on green grass.

I don't find it hard

to breathe under water.

I can't complain:

I've succeeded in discovering Atlantis.

I'm delighted that just before dying

I always manage to wake.

Right after the outbreak of war

I turn over on my favorite side.

I am but I need not

be a child of my time.

A few years ago

I saw two suns.

And the day before yesterday a penguin.

With the utmost clarity.

Translated by Stanislaw Baranczak