Johannes Vermeer October 31,1632 – 1652 Dutch Artist The 17 th century is often called the “Golden Age” of Dutch Painting.

Johnnes Vermeer: Timeline 10/31/1632 Born in Delft, a prosperous Dutch city known for it’s pottery Johannes Vermeer’s father was an art dealer and when he passed away Johannes inherited his business Vermeer marries and at the end of the year is registered as a master painter in the painter’s guild. Though he only painted 2-3 paintings a year, he is a highly respected artist and made enough to support his family French troops invade Holland and the art market is severely affected…no one is really buying art. Vermeer has 11 children and asks his mother-in-law for financial support. The stress of financial pressures are suspected to contribute to his death a year later After Vermeer’s death the family is deeply in depth and sells nearly every painting to pay off debts. The only work Vermeer’s widow keeps is The Art of Painting ( ).

"The principle of the camera obscura is as simple as it seems magical even today. The windowless box or chamber has a small hole in one site and a white side of wall opposite the side with the hole. Light entering the camera obscura through the hole projects onto the screen wall, and (following the laws of optics) produces and upside- down and reversed image. Most camera obscuras were fitted with a lens in the hole to focus the image. In portable form, the camera obscura became popular for recording landscape and city views. Using a system of lenses and mirrors that allowed the image to appear on a translucent screen, draftsmen could trace the views to produce early versions of tourist snapshots. The rooms-sized version of the camera obscura was useful to scientists interested in the behavior of light." 1 A few camera obscuras of this sort can still be found near popular tourist resorts. the portable camera obscura uses a lens to focus the image which is reflected from a slanted mirror to a translucent screen, the image is righted but still reversed an illustration of a camera obscura fromJ. Zahn, Oculusteledioptricus 2nd ed., Nuremberg, The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliotheek.

The Art of Painting c ¼ x 39 ¼”. Oil on canvas. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Photo, picasaweb.google.com. The model is believed to be one of Vermeer’s daughters and the artist is possibly Vermeer himself. If it is Vermeer than it would be his only known self-portrait.

Girl With a Pearl Earring c /2 x 15 3/8”. Oil on canvas. The Hague, Mauritshuis. Photo, vermeer0708.wordpress.com. The model for this famous painting that inspired a book and movie may also have been one of Vermeer’s daughters unlike the book or movie’s plot. Movie (2003): Peter Webber,Director Book:Tracy Chevalier,Author

The Lacemaker (De kantwerkster). c Oil on canvas. 9 5/8 x 8 ¼ in. (24.5 x 21 cm.). The Louvre, Paris. Photo, “In this, one of Vermeer's most beloved paintings, a young bends over her work, tautly holding the bobbins and pins essential for her craft. Sitting very close to the foreground, behind a lacemaking table and a large blue sewing cushion, Vermeer's devotes every ounce of her attention to this one activity, while the viewer peers in with equal intensity, mesmerized by her adeptness and artistic skill.” Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., Johannes Vermeer, Johannes Vermeer

Officer and Laughing Girl. c oil on canvas.19 7/8 x 18 1/8 in. (50.5 x 46 cm.).The Frick Collection, New York. Photo, “Instead, the viewer becomes an eavesdropper, as it were, an unseen observer peering through the keyhole, or the crack in the shutter. This effect is established by a number of devices. In few of the mature works do Vermeer's characters betray any sense that they are overlooked. Often, they are engrossed in some demanding task or activity. In the Frick canvas, the couple are clearly absorbed in each other. Yet the spectator's viewpoint is intimately close, as the disparity in scale between the two betrays.” John Nash, Vermeer, p. 63Vermeer

The Milkmaid (De Melkmeid ). c oil on canvas. 17 7/8 x 16 1/8 in. (45.5 x 41 cm.). The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Photo, chrono-naturalart.html “The play of light against dark and dark against light, however, appears so natural that one is unaware of the artificiality of Vermeer's construct or of the fact that the pattern of light falling into the room is illogical. Too little light falls on the wall to the left of the figure and too much to her right. Vermeer also heightened the light-dark contrast of the milkmaid's body against the wall by contouring her entire right side with a thin stroke of white paint. Given the realistic character of the scene, the artificiality of this contour line, which also gives the figure a slightly radiant quality, is striking. Its presence, however, is symptomatic of Vermeer's willingness to manipulate light effects for expressive purposes.” Arthur Wheelock Vermeer and the Art of Painting 1995, pp Vermeer and the Art of Painting

Young Woman With a Water Pitcher (Vrouw met waterkan). c oil on canvas.18 x 16 in. (45.7 x 40.6 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Marquand Collection, Gift of Henry G. Marquand. This well-preserved picture of the early to mid-1660s is characteristic of Vermeer's mature style. Notwithstanding his remarkable interest in optical effects, the artist achieved a quiet balance of primary colors and simple shapes following subtle calculation and some revision during the execution of the work. The composition suits the theme of domestic tranquility, underscored by the basin and pitcher, traditional symbols of purity. This canvas was the first of thirteen paintings by Vermeer to enter the United States between 1887 and "Johannes Vermeer: Young Woman with a Water Pitcher ( )". In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. o_ htm (October 2006)

The Love Letter. c oil on canvas. 17 3/8 x 15 1/8 in. (44 x 38.5.cm). Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The subject of this painting is love. This is evident in the presence of musical references (the instrument held by the woman and the musical score on the chair in the foreground) which were commonly used as a metaphor for harmony between two people and the letter which the young woman holds, undoubtedly from a loved one whom she speaks of with the servant. The painters of interior scenes often included paintings within paintings to clarify the meaning of the composition. In this case the paintings on the end wall, a landscape with a man and woman and a seascape, undoubtedly refer to the absence of the loved one, as in Metsu's painting.Metsu' Alejandro Vergara Vermeer and the Dutch Interior 2003, p. 257Vermeer and the Dutch Interior

Most quotes and information were found at: “has become the internet's essential tool for exploring every facet of the life and work of the great 17th c. Dutch painting master. is continually deepened by additions of new and significant studies. Webmaster and Author Jonathan Janson last update: 19 april., 2008” Some information was found in: Scholastic Art Magazine, Johannes Vermeer: Working with Compostion, November 1997, Vol. 28, No.1 ISSN x, Published in cooperation with the National Galllery of Art. Formerly Art & Man.