11 Things You Didn’t Know About Johannes Vermeer

Knowledge can be gained at any age. After having a detailed study on topics there are things unknown to us. So, we at Abirpothi present before you the lesser-known facts about artists around the world.

Johannes Vermeer

Johannes Vermeer is considered one of the greatest masters of Dutch painting of the 17th century for his depictions of everyday life in the seventeenth century. He is one of the most significant painters of the Dutch Golden Age and holds a particularly special place in the history of painting. Until the French critic Étienne-Joseph-Théophile Thoré reevaluated it in the 19th century, Vermeer\’s artwork was not well known outside of Delft and Amsterdam. Vermeer was born on 31 October 1632 into a family of merchants in the Dutch city of Delft. Johannes Vermeer’s life was characterized by many hardships and rich family life. He was heavily inspired by his father, a middle-class worker in the silk business while growing up in Delft. When he was just 20 years old, Johannes succeeded his father in running the family\’s art trading business after the latter passed away.

Though he is equally renowned for his genre paintings, Vermeer\’s best famous work is undoubtedly Girl with a Pearl Earring. Most of the women he portrays are doing chores inside. In his early works, Vermeer primarily focused on depicting historical events; nevertheless, after 1656, he began to create the genre paintings that would dominate the remainder of his career. The artist appears to have worked slowly and painstakingly, extracting a whole colour spectrum from \”white\” light, using nearly flawless optical accuracy, and recreating the tiniest details. Middle-class ladies were typically the most frequent topics of Vermeer\’s art, and they were shown in both casual settings and incredibly realistically detailed portraits. His use of light in the paintings to emphasize his subjects in profoundly emotive ways set him apart from other painters. His paintings of private, personal moments between ladies indoors were incredibly accurate in style. He added tiny white spots in specific locations to provide the impression of extra texture and glitter where it was needed. He used very rich colours to make an intense impact on the viewers.

11 lesser-known facts about Johannes Vermeer

1. He was nicknamed The Sphinx of Delft.
2. Vermeer was among the 35 painters that were accused of counterfeiting in 1671.
3. He converted to Catholicism to get married.

   

4. Almost every single one of Vermeer\’s interior scenes appears to have been made in the same room, with a tiled floor and a window high to the left of the scene.
5. He was dubbed the Master of Light because of his painting method, which made him famous all over the world.
6. In 2003, the novel \”Girl with a Pearl Earring,\” based on Vermeer\’s most famous picture, was adapted into a film. The film starring Colin Firth as Vermeer and Scarlett Johansson as \”Griet,\” a maid in his household, featured a fictional story of Vermeer.

   

7. From 1938 to 1945, Han van Meegeren created paintings he passed off as original Vermeers, fooling experts and collectors alike, in a move that earned him what would be roughly $30 million today.
8. In 1971, Vermeer’s Love Letter was stolen from the Fine Arts Palace in Brussels in an ill-devised heist.
9. Only three Johannes Vermeer paintings were dated by the artist: The Procuress; The Astronomer; and The Geographer.

   

10. Even though Johannes Vermeer could not afford the enrolment fee, he joined a union of painters known as the Guild of Saint Luke.
11. Different books that notice his works include Susan Vreeland’s Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Blue Balliett’s Chasing Vermeer, and J.P. Smith’s The Discovery of Light.