Johannes Vermeer (1632 - 1675) was a Dutch painter of the Golden Age, known for his tranquil scenes of everyday domestic life rendered with an extraordinary command of light and colour. [1] Working almost entirely in his native Delft, he produced a small body of paintings, among them Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Milkmaid and View of Delft. [2] Little regarded outside Delft during his lifetime, he was rediscovered in the nineteenth century and is now counted among the foremost artists of the era. [1]
Early life
Johannes Vermeer was born in Delft, in the Dutch Republic, and baptised there on 31 October 1632. [1] His father was a silk weaver who also traded in art and kept an inn, an environment that brought the young Vermeer into contact with the local painting trade. [2] In 1653 he married Catharina Bolnes and was admitted the same year to Delft's Guild of Saint Luke, the professional body for painters, of which he later served as an officer. [1]
Career and technique
Vermeer worked slowly and produced a modest number of pictures, fewer than forty of which are securely attributed to him today. [1] Most are quiet interior scenes showing one or two figures absorbed in ordinary activities, such as pouring milk, reading a letter or making music. [3] He was a master of natural light, using subtle gradations of tone and carefully observed reflections to give his surfaces a soft, almost photographic clarity. [2] His restrained compositions and his use of costly pigments, including natural ultramarine, lent his work an unusual richness and stillness. [3]
Major works
Among Vermeer's best-known paintings are Girl with a Pearl Earring, an arresting study of a young woman turning toward the viewer, and The Milkmaid, a monumental treatment of a humble household task. [2] View of Delft, one of his few outdoor scenes, is celebrated for its atmospheric rendering of the town beneath a shifting sky, while The Art of Painting presents an allegory of the artist at work. [3]
Later life and rediscovery
Vermeer supported a large family and worked also as an art dealer, but he struggled financially, particularly after the economic disruption caused by war in the 1670s. [1] He died in Delft in December 1675, leaving his widow in debt. [2] For nearly two centuries his reputation faded, and some of his paintings were attributed to other artists. Renewed interest in the mid-nineteenth century, promoted especially by the French critic Theophile Thore-Burger, restored his standing. [1] Today Vermeer is regarded as one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age, and his rare works are prized possessions of major museums worldwide. [3]
