Johannes Vermeer or Jan Vermeer (baptised 31 October 1632, died December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque painter. He spent his life in the town of Delft. Vermeer came from a Protestant family but he married a Catholic, named Catherina Bolnes, in April 1653. They had eleven children.
Vermeer mainly painted people in daily life. He painted people in detail and used rich colors. He kept the backgrounds simple. This contrast makes the viewer focus on the main point.
He used perspective technique to draw lines from one dot on the canvas. He used this technique on his 17 paintings. Those paintings have a little dot which may be used for perspective.
Vermeer’s painted women often wear blue clothes. This color blue is made from a natural mineral called lapis lazuli.
There is no self portrait of Jan Vermeer. His face may be in some other paintings, especially The Art of Painting (De Schilderkunst) and The Procuress (De Koppelaarste), but there is no proof that the man is Vermeer.
When Vermeer died his family had financial troubles, and after his death many of his paintings were sold at auction.
Vermeer became more famous after being rediscovered by art historians and art collectors in the 1800s.
Sources
- Essential Vermeer, This site covers much of Vermeer's life, works, and environment
- Virtual Vermeer Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine, Familiar biography, interesting entries
- Van Meegeren's Fake Vermeers at Arttube (Museum Boijmans) Archived 2011-04-28 at the Wayback Machine
- Vermeercentrum Archived 2009-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, Short biography of Vermeer and his life in Delft.
- Entry in Britannica encyclopaedia
Further reading
- Schneider, Nobert (1993). Vermeer. Cologne: Benedikt Taschen Verlag. ISBN 3-8228-6377-7.
- Steadman, Philip (2002). Vermmeer's Camera, the truth behind the masterpieces. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280302-6.
- Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. (1981). Jan Vermeer. New York: Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-1737-8.
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