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Today we're going to learn about the famous artist, Johannes Vermeer.
Johannes Vermeer, considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age, was born
sometime in or before October of 1632, in the city of Delft in the Netherlands. Compared
to other artists of the time, little is known about his life, but what is known is this:
The son of an innkeeper, Vermeer was baptized as a Protestant on October 31, 1632. Shortly
before his birth, his father began buying and selling paintings as well, which may have
inspired young Vermeer's interest in art.
When his father died in 1652, 20-year-old Johannes Vermeer took over his father's art
business. He was married soon after to Catharina Bolenes. Catharina was a Catholic, and Vermeer
converted to Catholicism before their wedding. They went on to have 15 children together,
11 of whom survived their infancy.
In December of 1653, Vermeer became a member of the Guild of St. Luke, the local painter's
association. No one is sure where he learned to paint, or who might have taught him. It
is possible that he taught himself, but by 1657 he had a patron, someone who gave him
money so he could spend time creating art.
Vermeer was well-regarded by the other artists - he was elected head of the painter's guild
at least four times - but that respect did not bring him fame.
One reason for this was that Vermeer painted slowly. On average, he only completed about
three paintings a year. Part of this was certainly due to his painstaking attention to detail,
but he also used large amounts of unusually expensive paints and so may not have been
able to afford materials at all times. Also, many of his paintings went to his patron instead
of being sold to others, which meant that they were not likely to be seen by very many
people.
In 1672, the 'Year of Disaster' hit the Netherlands, after a French army invaded from the south.
There was panicking and destruction, shops and schools were closed, and very few people
were buying art. Vermeer could not sell his own paintings, and he could also not sell
the paintings by other artists that he had. By the summer of 1675, he had to take out
a large loan to support his family. The stress of worrying about money was bad for his health,
and in December of that same year Johannes Vermeer died after a very short illness.
Despite his beautiful artwork, Vermeer was almost forgotten for 200 years, with some
of his paintings lost, in private collections, or mistakenly thought to have been done by
other painters. It wasn't until the 1860s that research began to be done about him and
a list of his surviving artwork assembled. Today Vermeer's art is valued for its rich
color and realism and the window it gives us into the day to day life of people hundreds
of years in the past.
I hope you enjoyed learning about the famous artist Johannes Vermeer, and seeing some of
his beautiful work. Goodbye till next time!