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Sep 18, 2024 · Paintings by Vermeer. One of the most famous Dutch painters, Johannes Vermeer, had a diverse palette for art. From landscapes to daily activities, and from women to ordinary scenes, he captured it all.
Apr 25, 2017 · Vermeer is known as a meticulous detailer of the everyday. But his paintings have more to do with his patrons and other artists than life in the Dutch Republic, writes Alastair Sooke.
Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch artist known especially for his paintings of 17th-century daily life. The 36 or so of his paintings that survive show a remarkable purity of light and form.
- Overview
- Early life
- Artistic training and early influences
Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch artist known especially for his paintings of 17th-century daily life. The 36 or so of his paintings that survive show a remarkable purity of light and form. Vermeer was not well known outside of Delft and Amsterdam until the 19th century, when the French critic Étienne-Joseph-Théophile Thoré reassessed the artist’s work.
What is Johannes Vermeer famous for?
Girl with a Pearl Earring (c. 1665) is probably Johannes Vermeer’s most famous work, but he is also known for his genre paintings. His subjects are often women in interior scenes completing chores, as in The Milkmaid (c. 1660), or engaged in private moments, as in Woman Reading a Letter (c. 1663).
How was Johannes Vermeer educated?
Surprisingly little is known about Vermeer’s decision to become a painter. He registered as a master painter in the Delft Guild of Saint Luke on December 29, 1653, but the identity of his master(s), the nature of his training, and the period of his apprenticeship remain a mystery.
What was Johannes Vermeer’s family like?
Delft, where Vermeer was born and spent his artistic career, was an active and prosperous place in the mid-17th century, its wealth based on its thriving delftware factories, tapestry-weaving ateliers, and breweries. Within Delft’s city walls were picturesque canals and a large market square, which was flanked by the imposing town hall and the soaring steeple of the Nieuwe Kerk (“New Church”). It was also a venerable city with a long and distinguished past. Delft’s strong fortifications, city walls, and medieval gates had furnished defense for more than three centuries and, during the Dutch revolt against Spanish control, had provided refuge for William I, prince of Orange, from 1572 until his death in 1584.
Vermeer was baptized in the Nieuwe Kerk. His father, Reynier Jansz, was a weaver who produced a fine satin fabric called caffa; he was also active as an art dealer. By 1641 the family was sufficiently prosperous to purchase a large house containing an inn, called the Mechelen, on the market square. Vermeer inherited both the inn and the art-dealing business upon his father’s death in October 1652. By this time, however, Vermeer must have decided that he wanted to pursue a career as a painter.
In April 1653 Vermeer married Catherina Bolnes, a young Catholic woman from the so-called Papenhoek, or Papist’s Corner, of Delft. This union led him to convert from the Protestant faith, in which he was raised, to Catholicism. Later in that decade, Vermeer and his wife moved into the house of the bride’s mother, Maria Thins, who was a distant relative of the Utrecht painter Abraham Bloemaert.
Britannica Quiz
Surprisingly little is known about Vermeer’s decision to become a painter. He registered as a master painter in the Delft Guild of Saint Luke on December 29, 1653, but the identity of his master(s), the nature of his training, and the period of his apprenticeship remain a mystery.
Since Vermeer’s name is not mentioned in Delft archival records during the late 1640s or early 1650s, it is possible that, as with many aspiring Dutch artists, he traveled to Italy, France, or Flanders. He also may have trained in some other artistic centre in the Netherlands, perhaps Utrecht or Amsterdam. In Utrecht Vermeer would have met artists who were immersed in the boldly expressive traditions of Caravaggio, among them Gerrit van Honthorst. In Amsterdam he would have encountered the impact of Rembrandt van Rijn, whose powerful chiaroscuro effects enhanced the psychological intensity of his paintings.
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Stylistic characteristics of both pictorial traditions—the Utrecht school and that of Rembrandt—are found in Vermeer’s early large-scale biblical and mythological paintings, such as Diana and Her Nymphs (c. 1653–54; also called Diana and Her Companions) and Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (c. 1654–56). The most striking assimilation of the two traditions is apparent in Vermeer’s The Procuress (1656). The subject of this scene of mercenary love is derived from a painting by the Utrecht-school artist Dirck van Baburen in the collection of Vermeer’s mother-in-law, while the deep reds and yellows and the strong chiaroscuro effects are reminiscent of Rembrandt’s style of painting. The dimly lit figure at the left of the composition is probably a self-portrait in which Vermeer assumes the guise of the Prodigal Son, a role that Rembrandt had also played in one of his own “merry company” scenes.
In the early 1650s Vermeer might also have found much inspiration back within his native Delft, where art was undergoing a rapid transformation. The most important artist in Delft at the time was Leonard Bramer, who produced not only small-scale history paintings—that is, morally edifying depictions of biblical or mythological subjects—but also large murals for the court of the prince of Orange. Documents indicate that Bramer, who was Catholic, served as a witness for Vermeer at his marriage. Although it would appear that Bramer was, at the very least, an early advocate for the young artist, nowhere is it stated that he was Vermeer’s teacher.
- Dutch
- Delft, The Dutch Republic
- Christ in the House of Martha and Mary. In this painting, Christ sits in the house of his close friends, the sisters Martha and Mary. While Martha is busy cleaning, cooking for, and serving the son of God, Mary sits calmly and contentedly at his feet and listens to him preach.
- The Procuress. This image of The Procuress appears to take place within the walls of a shady, dark brothel. The viewer's eye is drawn immediately to the young woman on the right, as her pale yellow bodice, white lace head covering, and pale skin are the brightest parts of the painting.
- The Officer and the Laughing Girl. This snapshot of 17th century Dutch life has divided opinion for many decades. Art historians are unable to ascertain whether the young woman is a prostitute greeting a customer or a love-struck girl.
- The View of Delft. Vermeer has depicted a serene glimpse into city life during the Dutch Golden Age, a period when the economic, technologic, and art world in the Netherlands were at their peak.
The main reason for this is that he produced a small number of pictures, perhaps about forty-five (of which thirty-six are known today), primarily for a small circle of patrons in Delft. Indeed, as much as half of Vermeer’s output was acquired by the local collector Pieter van Ruijven.
Jul 24, 2013 · Johannes Vermeer (b. 1632–d. 1675) is heralded as one of the greatest artists of the 17th century, the golden age of Dutch painting. His status is all the more remarkable given that only thirty-six paintings have come down to us today.
