Johannes Vermeer Art

Johannes Vermeer (1632 – December 1675) was a Dutch realist painter whose subjects were mainly Dutch domestic interiors consisting of human figures. His love of art stemmed from his fascination with cameras and the effects of light on different subjects. Vermeer’s early personal life isn't clear, although it's known that he was a staunch catholic. Sources intimate that he learned his paintings from Abraham Bloemaert, who was a Catholic painter. He started out painting mainly history scenes, involving a lot of imaginations to come up with scenes that truly reflect historical subjects in a distinguishable manner. Vermeer got married to his wife Catherine Bolnes with whom they had 15 children, but lost 4 at birth. In a number of his paintings, his wife and children posed for him. He mainly lived his life in Delft with little activities outside his home town, a reality that narrowed down his market to friends, relatives and a few other locals. Vermeer mainly used oil paint as his medium and canvas as his support base. He developed a unique style such that to date, his works remain some of the most valued in museums across the globe, and it's believed that only a few of them are available. Vermeer remains one of Europe’s greatest painters. Although he’s celebrated in death, he didn’t achieve much with the paintings during his life, ending up dying poor, leaving his family bankrupt. His wife had to give away his paintings to the city council in exchange for some small fee. Vermeer’s art only resurfaced prominently 200 years later in 1858 after a French writer started writing about them. Now, they’re exhibited in Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Moreover, Johannes Vermeer framed art are also available through different galleries.