Articles about Vermeer published in DailyArt Magazine

 The recently restored Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window by Johannes Vermeer is often said to be that of a young woman reading a love letter. It seems to me that nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, Vermeer left several breadcrumbs to lead us to the conclusion that it is not a love letter. 

 It is not surprising that Vermeer was attracted to the sciences. The parallel growth of art and science during the Dutch Golden Age was unlike any other time in history.  Vermeer portrayed scientists at work in The Astronomer and The Geographer. In both of these paintings, he used Anthony van Leeuwenhoek as a model. 

Johannes Vermeer was one of the masters of the Dutch Golden Age. He was born in Delft, in the south of The Netherlands, in 1632 and died there at age 43, apparently quite broke. Only about 36 of his works survive. Here we look at ten of his paintings, in chronological order (as best as we can guess—most of the paintings are not dated). It’s a good chance to get to know him and see how his career evolved.

  Music was a big part of daily life in Holland in Johannes Vermeer’s time. As a testament to that, 14 Vermeer paintings include a musical instrument: more than a third of his paintings. In this particular painting, Vermeer gives us a treasure chest of hints and subtle gestures to remind us that in love, the head and the heart are not always aligned.

Vermeer ended his artistic career with two pendant paintings which tell us a bit about his thoughts about two different sorts of love. This one, A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal, shows an innocent pure faithful love, watched over by Cupid. The other, A Young Woman Seated at a Virginal, shows an account of love more likely to be apportioned by the hour.  Vermeer seems to approve of this one.  The other one?  Not so much.

It is impossible to name the “best” of Vermeer’s paintings, but the iconic View of Delft is always on such lists. Perhaps the most well-known cityscape in art history, the painting shows a calm morning view of Delft—the town where Vermeer was born, where he died, and where he spent virtually all of his life.  How well do you think you know this painting?