Johannes Vermeer

"Vermeer" redirects here. For other uses, see Vermeer (disambiguation).

Johannes Vermeer
Detail of the painting The Procuress (c. 1656), believed to be a self-portrait by Vermeer[1]
Born
Joannis Vermeer

baptised 31 October 1632
Delft, County of Holland, Dutch Republic
Died15 December 1675(1675-12-15) (aged 43)
Delft, County of Holland, Dutch Republic
Known forPainting
Notable work34 works universally attributed[2]
MovementDutch Golden Age
Baroque
SpouseCatharina Bolnes
Signature

Johannes Vermeer (/vərˈmɪər, vərˈmɛər/ vər-MEER, vər-MAIR, Dutch: [joːˈɦɑnəs fərˈmeːr]; see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. During his lifetime, he was a moderately successful provincial genre painter, recognized in Delft and The Hague. He produced relatively few paintings, primarily earning his living as an art dealer. He was not wealthy; at his death, his wife was left in debt.[3]

Vermeer worked slowly and with great care, and frequently used very expensive pigments. He is particularly renowned for making masterful use of light in his work.[4] "Almost all his paintings", Hans Koningsberger wrote, "are apparently set in two smallish rooms in his house in Delft; they show the same furniture and decorations in various arrangements and they often portray the same people, mostly women."[5]

The modest celebrity he enjoyed during his life gave way to obscurity after his death. He was barely mentioned in Arnold Houbraken's major source book on 17th-century Dutch painting (Grand Theatre of Dutch Painters and Women Artists, published 1718) and, as a result, was omitted from subsequent surveys of Dutch art for nearly two centuries.[6][a] In the 19th century, Vermeer was rediscovered by Gustav Friedrich Waagen and Théophile Thoré-Bürger, who published an essay attributing 66 pictures to him, although only 34 paintings are universally attributed to him today.[2] Since that time, Vermeer's reputation has grown enormously.

  1. ^ Boone, Jon. "The Procuress: Evidence for a Vermeer Self-Portrait". Essential Vermeer. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  2. ^ a b Janson, Jonathan. "Complete Vermeer Catalogue & Tracker". Essential Vermeer. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bulfinch was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wadum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Koningsberger, Hans (1977). The World of Vermeer. New York, USA: Time-Life Books. OCLC 755281576.
  6. ^ Barker, Emma; et al. (1999). The Changing Status of the Artist. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 199. ISBN 0-300-07740-8.
  7. ^ Blankert, Albert (2007). "Vermeer and his Public". In Blankert, Albert; Montias, John Michael; Aillaud, Gilles (eds.). Vermeer. New York, USA: Overlook. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-58567-979-9.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).