Jan Vermeer Delft - Dutch painter, master of landscape and genre painting. The most mysterious and inexplicable artist of the XVII century, whose name is on a par with Rembrandt, Hals and de Hoch. He is often compared with Leonardo da Vinci, for a small number of works and a long time to create his paintings. No other painter claimed his genius in such a small number of works.
Brief information about Vermeer
Very little information has come to us about the artist’s life. It is known that Jan Vermeer was born on December 31, 1632 in the city of Delft (South Holland). His father was an entrepreneur and trader. It contained a fashionable inn, traded in silk fabrics, art and antiquities. The surname Vermeer is a nickname, translated from Dutch is translated as "succeed", "multiply." Other spellings of the name of the painter are Johannis van der Mer, Johannis ver Mer. Later, the most common version of the name of the great artist was Vermeer Delftsky.
Until today, it has not been precisely established who was Vermeer's teacher, but it is known that the Dutch artist Karel Fabrizius, who also lived and worked in Delft, had a great influence on his work.
In 1653, Jan Vermeer married Katharina Bolnes. Over the twenty years of marriage, they had 15 children, four of whom died in infancy. Vermeer lived a very short life. In 1675, he died of a heart attack at the age of 43. He left many debts to his large family. After the death of the painter, his widow refused an inheritance in favor of creditors.
Vermeer art technique
In his works, Vermeer most often depicted everyday scenes, as well as middle-class women and their servants. The manner of writing the artist’s paintings was completely unique. Jan Vermeer did not mix paints, and each smear was applied separately. Then these individual segments of the paints formed a complete work. He wrote with so thin dotted strokes that they can only be examined with a magnifier. Two centuries later, pointillist artists (Georges Seurat, Paul Signac, Henri Martin) began to apply this technique. At the end of the XVII century, when the auction of his works took place, Vermeer's account was only 21 works. During the XIX-XX centuries, art critics actively searched for his works. Nowadays, there are 36 or 39 paintings by the painter (according to various sources). For 20 years of his creative life, he wrote about 40 works. Due to the slow manner of writing, the artist had few orders. That is why it is believed that Vermeer did not make money with his work. The continuation of his father's business ensured the economic well-being of his family.
Below you will find descriptions of the most significant paintings by Jan Vermeer, approximate years of their creation and modern location.
"View of Delft"
(c. 1660-1661, Mauritshuis, The Hague)
In the painting “View of Delft” Vermeer depicted a beautiful panoramic landscape of his hometown from the water. From the wide mouth of the river, Delft's high stone walls seem to grow. Water for the Dutch at that time was of great importance, it was considered the main transport artery that facilitated commercial prosperity. On the canvas, arches carved into the walls are clearly visible, through which ships with various loads entered the city. The blue sky with white fluffy clouds makes this work particularly poetic.
"Thrush"
(circa 1660, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
In this work, the artist depicted a female image in a rather ordinary atmosphere. A puffy and burly maid pouring milk from a jug, which Vermeer clearly admires. Modesty, chastity and a focus on the process are read in the whole appearance of a woman. Yellow and bright blue were clearly favorites in the painter's color palette. In the picture, these two colors contrast favorably with the white color of milk, the wall and the cap of the woman.
"Woman holding a scale"
(circa 1663-1664, National Gallery of Art, Washington)
This work has an allegorical reading, which can be interpreted in different ways. It depicts a woman expecting a baby. She holds empty scales located above the table. On the blue drapery lies an open jewelry box. Vermeer places the image of a young woman against the background of a painting depicting the Last Judgment, which Christ rules. Jesus Christ weighs the sins and virtues of sinners and the righteous, and a woman weighs pearls by sorting pearls. But, despite the fact that the whole room is plunged into darkness, it is illuminated by divine light. This bright ray of light sounds like a blessing of Christ, as she has to give life to another being. Also, the picture of the Last Judgment reminds us of the earthly bustle and futility of worldly goods. Many art historians believe that the artist’s wife, Katarina Vermeer, posed for this picture.
"Lacemaker"
(c. 1669-1670gg., Louvre, Paris)
The process of female labor undeniably inspires Vermeer. This picture depicts a girl weaving thin and graceful lace. She is very focused on her needlework. All the details of this process are so artistically depicted by the artist that we can see not only a pillow for needles, bobbins, a book, but also distinguish the texture of thin threads in the foreground.
"Girl reading a letter by the open window"
(circa 1657, Gallery of the Old Masters, Dresden)
This picture is considered one of the most mysterious among the artist's works. A lot of different stories and conjectures have been written about her. The canvas depicts a girl’s room. She pulled back the curtain separating the bedroom from the common room. In the open window we see the reflection of her face on the glass, a slightly crumpled bedspread on the bed and a fruit platter. In the foreground lies a peach, which is broken in half. Leisure art historians consider this a symbol that the girl is pregnant, since the peach bone symbolizes the embryo. A girl reads a letter, perhaps a response from her lover. But by her face we cannot understand whether she read the good news in a letter or not. This is the whole secret and touching of this work.
"Interrupted music lesson"
(c. 1660-1661, Frick Collection, New York)
The artist was very supportive of love relationships, as evidenced by many of his works. The canvas "Interrupted music lesson" is no exception. In the picture we see a music teacher and a young girl. Apparently, someone came in and they were interrupted, so the girl looks at the viewer in dismay. Clearly, this lesson hides their sympathy for each other. Some inconspicuous details tell us about this. This is a red blouse of a girl, a glass of wine on the table, and a picture hanging in the background with the image of Cupid.
