Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) was a Dutch painter of quiet rooms, soft light and pure colour. He left only about 35 paintings, among them Girl with a Pearl Earring, one of the most famous faces in the history of painting. Vermeer’s works are among our hand-painted Vermeer reproductions on canvas.
We paint every Vermeer painting by hand, in oil on canvas, to order and in the size you choose, and before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished painting.
Vermeer paintings in our gallery
Life: everything in Delft
Johannes Vermeer was baptised on 31 October 1632 in Delft and lived there all his life. In 1653 he married Catharina Bolnes and became a master of the painters’ Guild of Saint Luke. They had many children, and Vermeer painted slowly and little. He died in December 1675, in debt, aged only 43. For almost two centuries he was forgotten, until he was rediscovered in the 19th century.
Style: light through the window
In Vermeer’s paintings the light almost always falls through a window on the left and gently touches the wall, the face and the things on the table. The room often holds a single figure, absorbed in work or a letter. For the blue he used costly ultramarine made from lapis lazuli, and tiny bright dots give bread, pearls and metal their sheen. Vermeer left no recorded words about painting; only his paintings speak for him.
His most famous works
Vermeer’s most famous work is Girl with a Pearl Earring in the Mauritshuis in The Hague, where View of Delft also hangs. The Milkmaid, The Little Street and Woman in Blue Reading a Letter are in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, The Art of Painting in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and The Astronomer in the Louvre. To compare him with other great names, read our overview of the most famous paintings in the world.
Frequently asked questions about Vermeer
Who was Johannes Vermeer?
A Dutch painter (1632–1675) from Delft, master of quiet interiors and of light, one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age.
How many paintings did Vermeer paint?
Only about 35 survive, very few for a painter of his time. That is why every one of his paintings is famous and precious.
Where are Vermeer’s originals?
Most are in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Mauritshuis in The Hague; other works are in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Louvre in Paris and museums in London, New York and Washington.
Can I buy a hand-painted reproduction of a Vermeer painting?
Yes, our online gallery has hand-painted reproductions of Vermeer paintings on canvas in the size you choose. Before delivery you receive a photograph of the painting for approval, and we send it only once you approve it.
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