| Vermeer Jan Delft (baptized on 31.10.1632 in Delft and buried on 15.12.1675 at the same place) was a Dutch painter. He worked in Delft and became an artist under the influence of C. Fabritius. Even in early paintings (“Diana and Her Companions”, Mauritshuis, The Hague; “Christ in the House of Martha and Mary”, National Gallery, Edinburgh), Vermeer strived to combine an elevated system of images with their affinity to nature. The broad sized canvas “The Procuress” (1656, Art Gallery, Dresden) is marked by the unusual monumental embodiment of a bright true-to-life scene, full of young enthusiasm and full-blooded sensuality; Here, Vermeer with dare combines elements of tone colors with huge sonorous stains of pure color. From the second half of the 1650s, Vermeer started working on small paintings with one or several figures in interiors of a city house, flooded with a silver color (“Girl reading a Letter at an open Letter with the letter", the Art gallery, Dresden; “Officer with a Laughing Girl”, Frick Collection, New York; “The Milkmaid”, State Museum, Amsterdam), paying attention not so much to actions or plot but to the condition, the general lyrical mood of the scene and the variety and riches of the material world.
Poetry of day-to-day domestic life, unity of the person with the surroundings are expressed here with extraordinary depth of abstractness; classical clarity and harmony, sharp expressiveness of spatial composition, live vibration of light and air, brightness of saturated clear colors, rich game of the most gentle shades, reflexes and patches spiritualize the world of simple people and household items and indicate his internal significance. At the end of the 1650s, two landscape masterpieces – heartfelt, and immensely fine in implementation “The Little Street” (State Museum, Amsterdam) and “View of Delft” (Mauritshuis), shining with freshness and beauty have confirmed the fame of the unsurpassed master of the landscape genre. In the 1660s the creativity of Vermeer becomes more contemplating, exploring a painting - colder, enameled, which withstood in a general pearl tone with bright accents - dark blue and lemon-yellow; such as “Girl with Pearl Earring” (Mauritshuis), the images of comfortably, richly arranged rooms where well-dressed ladies and gentlemen conduct gallant conversation, play music or check the valuables (“The Wine Glass”, “Woman with a Pearl Necklace” - Art Gallery, Berlin). In later pictures by Vermeer, allegorism, academic methods and diversity of local colors reflect the general decadence of Dutch painting. The richness of content and the charisma of images were preserved by Vermeer in the paintings of the 1660s which were dedicated to the people of working class, arts and science and translating a self-in-depth of person in the minutes of creativity (“The Lacemaker”, Louvre, Paris; “The Allegory of Painting”, Art & Historical Museum, Vienna; “The Geographer”, Stadelsches Institute of Art, Frankfurt am Main).
Johannes Vermeer Delft was born in 1632 in the Dutch city of Delft into a well-to-do businessmen’s family. Probably, Vermeer learnt the art of painting from the popular artist C.Fabritius. In 1653, young Johannes Vermeer was accepted as a member of the Guild of Saint Luke and from 1662-1671, Vermeer became the head of the guild. Twice, he was reelected as President of the guild. Earlier creations of Vermeer (“Christ in the House of Martha and Mary”, 1655, National Gallery, Edinburgh) belong to the European repertoire of that time and characteristic of the artist’s creativity on the whole.
Even though Johannes Vermeer did not paint a single still life painting as a finished picture, he was reckoned as the best artist of this genre. On completion of his artistic creations the artist incorporated still life in them in a limited way: a bowl with fruit, a jug and a crumpled napkin (“A Girl Asleep”) or apples and peaches rolling down from an inclined bowl (“Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window”).
Johannes Vermeer was married to Catherina Bolnes and the couple had 15 children. Painting did not bring him enough income sufficient to raise a large family. Due to this, Vermeer was compelled to continue the trading business of his father. The French war and the 1672 crisis completely ruined him. It's quite possible that the French War and the 1672 crisis played their part in speeding up the end of Vermeer, who died of heart attack on December 16, 1675.
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October 31 is famous not just as Halloween day, it is also the birthday of Jan Vermeer - one of the greatest artists of the Dutch Golden Age - the author of "Girl with a Pearl Earring", "Milkmaid", "A Lady Writing a Letter", "The Astronomer", and numerous paintings of domestic ordinary life.
Sadly, great fame came to Vermeer's paintings long after his death. In his lifetime Vermeer was neither particularly famous nor wealthy. He died in debts. Past Saturday artists around the world celebrated Vermeer's 377th birthday.
