Quicknation    Jan Vermeer

Images of Jan Vermeer: G Y AOL AV MSN Books of Jan Vermeer: B

Jan Vermeer (October 31, 1632 - buried on December 15, 1675) was a Dutch painter, who lived and worked in Delft. He is also sometimes referred to as . 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.

table

Vermeer produced transparent colours by adding the paint onto the canvas in loosely granular layers, a technique called (not to be confused with pointillism). David Hockney, among other historians, has speculated that Vermeer possibly used a camera obscura to achieve precise positioning in his compositions, and this view seems to be supported by certain light and perspective effects which would be the result of lenses and not the naked eye; however, the issue is disputed by many other historians.

Vermeer painted mostly in-house scenes, and even his two known landscapes are framed with a window. His works are largely genre pieces and portraits, with the exception of two city views.

His paintings cover all layers of society, at one time portraying a simple milkmaid at work, at other times works show the luxury and splendour of rich notables and merchantmen in their roomy houses. Religious and scientific connotations can be found in his works.

Carel Fabritius (1622–1654) who spent his final years in Delft. Vermeer's ideas about perspective, and his tendency to paint everyday themes were possibly influenced by Fabritius.

Today, 34 or 37 paintings are clearly attributed to Vermeer, although in 1866, Thoré Burger attributed a list of 66 pictures to him. The known paintings are:

- Oil on canvas, 69 x 63 cm, stolen in the night of March 18, 1990 from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, - Boston

Han van Meegeren (1889–1947) was a Dutch painter who worked in the classic tradition. Originally to prove that critics were wrong about his qualities as a painter, he decided to paint a fake Vermeer. Later, he forged more Vermeers and works of other painters, to make money. Van Meegeren fooled the art establishment, and was only taken seriously after demonstrating his skills in front of police witnesses. His aptitude at forgery shocked the art world and hence made it even more difficult to assess the authenticity of works attributed to Vermeer.

are inspired by the painting of the same name, and present a fictional account of its creation by Vermeer and his relationship with the model.The liqueur Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liqueur was inspired by and named after Vermeer and its bottle is embossed with his signature and has a logo incorporating the Girl with a Pearl Earring.Essential Vermeer: huge and well organized site discusses all aspects of Vermeer, his life and works.National Gallery of Art web feature on Vermeer, including an in-depth discussion of his "Woman Holding a Balance."