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Biography
Johannes Vermeer of Delft, also known as Jan Vermeer or Johannes van der Meer, is now considered to be one of the great Dutch masterpainters. However, his work was forgotten after his death in 1675. It was not rediscovered until the late 19th century. Little is known about his life and only a small number of his paintings have been preserved. The only sources of information are some registers, a few official documents and comments by other artists. Italian painter Caravaggio had an indirect influence on Vermeer's style. On the other hand, Jan Vermeer had a great influence on the Impressionists. Van Gogh said of his painting "Girl in a Turban", "this strange painters palette consists of blue, lemon yellow, pearl gray, black and white". Renoir considered "The Lace Maker" one of the best pictures in the world. Alongside Rembrandt, Vermeer is the best known painter of the Dutch Golden Age, and his paintings are admired for their transparent colours, careful composition, and brilliant use of light. The following biography attempts to give an impression of the life of this Dutch masterpainter.
Johannes Vermeer was born in 1632, in the city of Delft in The Netherlands. The precise date of his birth is unknown but we do know that he was baptised on the 31st of October, 1632, in the Reformed Church in Delft. His father, Reynier Vermeer, was a silk weaver and an art dealer. He married Johannes' mother, Digna, who was from Antwerp, Belgium, in 1615. Reynier Vermeer's name actually was Reynier Vos (Fox), but he used the name Van der Meer. He was probably the one who introduced the art of painting to the young Johannes. The Vermeer family bought a large house near the market square in Delft in 1641. This house, the "Mechelen", was actually an inn and Reynier Vermeer probably used the place to sell paintings. After his death in 1652, Johannes Vermeer inherited the Mechelen as well as his father's bussiness. (continued on the bottom)
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Despite the fact that he was Protestant, he married a Catholic girl, named Catherina Bolnes, in April 1653. He coverted to Catholicism shortly before their marriage. The couple moved in with Catherina's mother, Maria Thins, in 1672. Maria apparently played an important role in their life, for they named their first daughter after her. Maria Thins was a Jesuit and this, too, seems to have influenced Johannes and Catherina, for they called their first son Ignatius, after the patron saint of the Jesuit Order. Johannes and Catherina had fourteen children in total, three of which died before Vermeer.
Vermeer started an apprenticeship to become a painter. It is not certain where he studied and who his teacher was. In general, it is believed that he studied in Delft and that his teacher was either Carel Fabritius (1622 - 1654) or Leonaert Bramer (1596 - 1674). The 29th of December 1653, Vermeer became a member of the Saint Luke's Guilde, which was a trade association for painters. During the Dutch Golden Age, painting was not considered an art, but a craftmanship, a way to make a living. He wasn't able to pay the admition fee right away as records of the Guilde show. In 1662 he was elected head of the Guilde and in 1663, 1670 and 1671 he was elected again.
Because of the economic difficulties in the Netherlands in the late 17th century, the art dealing bussiness went bad for Vermeer. This was one of the reasons Johannes and his family left the Mechelen in 1672, to move in with Maria Thins. When Johannes Vermeer died in 1675, he left Catherina and their children with very little money. Catherina was forced to ask the city council to take over the heritage, which not only included paintings but also great debts. The famous Dutch microscopist, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who also lived and worked in Delft and worked for the city council, was appointed trustee for the estate in 1676. In the same year, 19 of Vermeer's paintings were bequeathed to Catherina and Maria. Catherina used some of the paintings of her late husband to pay the debts she had.
After his death, Vermeer and his work were forgotten. Nowadays, only a small number of paintings has survived. In Delft, Vermeer was a respected artist but seems to have never sold one of his paintings. The small number of paintings of which we now know they are Vermeer's can be attributed to the fact that he was a very precise painter. His compositions are remarkable and so is his representation of space. His relatively short life and career as an artist is seen as another reason for small Vermeer heritage. It is assumed that many of his paintings were lost after his death. Despite the fact that we only have a small number of paintings, Vermeer is now considered to be one of the greatest Dutch painters.