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Jan
Vermeer (or Jan van der Meer, or Jan Vermeer van Delft) was born in 1632,
the second child of Reynier Janszoon Vos and Digna Baltens. Reynier, besides
his other businesses, was an art dealer and had relations with some artists
of his time, including Balthasar van der Ast, Pieter Steenwyck, and Pieter
Groenewesen. Maybe these contacts gave the young Vermeer his first artistic
inclination. Nothing is known about his training as a painter, but in 1653
he was admitted as a master to the Guild of St. Luke, which united painters
in all genres, glass makers, faience makers, embroiderers and art dealers;
as a precondition for being admitted was an obligatory six-year training
with a master, recognized by the Guild.
On 20 April 1653 Vermeer married Catharina Bolnes, who bore him 15
children, 4 of them died when still very young.
Vermeer probably painted very little for the public art market, most
of his work being produced for those patrons who particularly valued his
work. This may also account for the modest number of paintings he produced.
Christ
in the House of Mary and Martha (c.1654-1655) is one of Vermeer’s
earliest paintings. Paintings of biblical themes were classified as histories,
which were described in treatises on art as most distinguished tasks. Vermeer
probably wanted to demonstrate his abilities in this genre upon entry to
the Guild of St. Luke. Diana and Her Companions
(c.1655-1656) is another early work by Vermeer; the theme on this occasion
derives from mythology. These themes are not typical of Vermeer. He almost
always chose as subject matter glimpses of daily life, and almost invariably
interiors, though there are in his heritage a couple of views of Delfi:
Street
in Delfi (c.1657-1658),
View
of Delfi (c.1660-1661). His paintings are calm with
very few figures, generally no more than one or two, usually women alone
(women in love, reading or writing love letters, playing musical instruments;
women at work). Vermeer offers the most impressive reflection of the sophisticated
side of seventeenth-century Dutch life; its love for fine furniture, attractive
women, lavish clothing, and maps decorating interiors: The
Art of Painting (c.1666-1673), Woman
with a Water Jug (c.1664-1665) and others. The role of maps
was twofold; on the one hand, they indicated wealth, in the seventeenth
century, maps were an expensive luxury; on the other hand, they refer to
a good level of education.
Vermeer’s pictures are also moralizing, thus women who had become intoxicated
on wine were considered to be the embodiment of sin, and this is a central
motif to some of Vermeer’s works: The Glass
of Wine (c.1658-1660). Soldier
and a Laughing Girl (c.1658), Woman
and Two Men (c.1659-1660). On each of these pictures men are
trying to seduce young women by giving them wine. Evidently Vermeer supported
the view of his time that alcohol was the first step towards whoring and
women should be forbidden drink altogether. There are also many hints and
symbols in Vermeer’s pictures, which his contemporaries understood, but
we, not knowing their meanings, see in his painting artistic representation
of the everyday life of those times.
In almost all his pictures Vermeer is experimenting with light, radiant
light comes from somewhere beside or behind the canvas. Jewelry gleams
prettily in the light; wet lips, bright eyes catch the light; reflections
from window glass, kitchen utensils fall on surrounding objects, creating
an atmosphere of peace and serenity. Vermeer preferred cool tones of blue,
white and yellow: Girl with a Pearl Earring
(c.1665), The Milkmaid (c.1658-1660),
The
Lacemaker (c.1669-1670),
Lady
Seated at a Virginal (c.1673-1675) and many others.
Only tree of Vermeer's pictures: The Procuress
(1656), The Geographer (c.1668-1669)
and The Astronomer (c.1668)
are dated. Some art historians consider the left man on
The Procuress
to be the self-portrait of Vermeer. The Geographer and The Astronomer
were produced as a pair, and remained together until 1729.
Besides painting Vermeer also worked as an art dealer. He presumably took
over the running of his father’s inn, the “Mechelen”, once his father died.
Vermeer’s later years were overshadowed by a dramatic deterioration of
his personal financial position. He got into debt. In 1672 war between
France and the Netherlands started. The only way the Netherlands could
defend them was to open dikes and flood the land, but this ruined the agriculture.
Vermeer’s family was among those who suffered financially, because could
not get rent for their estate any longer. His wife later commented, “Because
of this and because of the large sums of money we had to spend on the children,
sums he was no longer able to pay, he fell into such a depression and lethargy
that he lost his health in the space of one and a half days and died.”
Vermeer was buried on 15 December 1675 in the family grave at the Oude
Kerk, Delft.
Bibliography:
Vermeer of Delft by. Yu. Zolotov. Moscow. 1995.
Painting of Western Europe. XVII century. by E. Rotenberg. Moscow.
Iskusstvo. 1989.
Painting of Europe. XIII-XX centuries. Encyclopedic Dictionary.
Moscow. Iskusstvo. 1999.
Vermeer:
A View of Delft by Anthony Bailey. Henry Holt & Company,
Inc., 2001.
Girl
with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. Plume, 2001.
Girl
in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland. Penguin USA, 2000.
Vermeer:
The Complete Works by Arthur K., Jr Wheelock, Johannes Vermeer.
Harry N Abrams, 1997.