Description
The Guitar Player is one of the last works of Johannes Vermeer, painted around 1672: a young woman in a yellow jacket edged with white fur, a white satin dress and a pearl necklace laughs as she strums a guitar, looking somewhere beyond the edge of the canvas, with a landscape in a gilt frame on the wall behind her. The original, oil on canvas, is 53 cm high and 46.3 cm wide and can be seen at Kenwood House in London. Our painter paints it for you in oil colours on canvas, in one of 8 portrait sizes from 43 x 47 to 172 x 200 cm or made to measure, and before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work.
| Title: | The Guitar Player |
| Other titles: | De gitaarspeelster · Die Gitarrenspielerin |
| Painter: | Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) |
| Year painted: | c. 1672 |
| Original size: | 53 cm x 46.3 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, Dutch Golden Age |
| Located at: | Kenwood House, London (Iveagh Bequest, English Heritage) |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
The Guitar Player – Johannes Vermeer
What does The Guitar Player show?
In the corner of a room a young woman sits with a guitar on her lap. Her right hand is sweeping across the strings, her head is tilted a little and her lips part in a smile. She is not looking at us but at someone the painting does not show.
She wears a yellow morning jacket trimmed with white fur flecked with dark spots, and beneath it a gleaming dress of white satin. A string of pearls lies around her neck, and her hair falls in small ringlets beside her cheeks.
On the white wall behind her hangs a green and blue landscape in an ornate gilt frame. Three books lie on the table under its dark blue cloth, and a dark curtain drops at the edge.
Unusually for Vermeer, the light comes from the right, not the left. It falls straight on the girl and her guitar, so the eye goes first to her face and hands.
What does the guitarist’s smile tell us?
Vermeer’s earlier women wear a guarded, almost secretive expression. This girl is openly cheerful and a little flirtatious, as if she had just sung a line. Because she looks past us, she is clearly playing for somebody else.
Some of the strings are painted blurred, as though they were still vibrating. With that small touch Vermeer paints sound itself: the song is under way, and we have caught her in the middle of it.
The guitar was then a novelty. It came from Spain, cost less than the lute and was easier to play, so the Dutch Republic eagerly took it up. This one is a five-course guitar, decorated with ebony, ivory, tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl.
Why is The Guitar Player so unusual?
In the 1660s Vermeer had perfected calm, balanced scenes; here he breaks that balance on purpose. The girl is pushed to one side, light and shadow take up much of the canvas, and the whole picture feels in motion.
The handling of paint changes too. The necklace is not built from carefully drawn pearls but from hazy white highlights over a dark greenish grey, and the yellow jacket from small patches of colour that only merge into folds from a distance.
It stayed with Vermeer until his death in 1675, so it is thought to follow his own direction, not a patron’s wishes. If you know him from quieter music scenes such as Girl Interrupted at Her Music, you will be struck by so much life.
Its style, history and details are covered at greater length in the Wikipedia article (in English).
Where is the original of The Guitar Player?
The original is at Kenwood House in north London, cared for by English Heritage. The canvas is 53 cm high and 46.3 cm wide. The link to the page describing the work is in the table at the top.
After Vermeer’s death it stayed in Delft for a time and was auctioned in Amsterdam in 1696. Later the Viscounts Palmerston owned it in London, and from 1889 Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, whose Iveagh Bequest brought it to Kenwood House after his death in 1927.
In February 1974 the painting was stolen from Kenwood House and held for ransom. Scotland Yard recovered it in May of the same year in a London churchyard; it was damp but otherwise unharmed, and it went back to Kenwood House, where it hangs today.
The Guitar Player or another Vermeer?
The Guitar Player is a cheerful canvas painting for a music room, the corner by the piano or the room where you like to play records. With a single figure and clear colours, it also sits well in a bedroom or a hallway.
For a calmer female face, see Study of a Young Woman. For a bigger wall and a scene about the painter’s craft itself there is The Art of Painting, and for a view of Delft houses from the outside, The Little Street.
All the famous Vermeer paintings we make to order are gathered on the Johannes Vermeer page.
How does our painter paint your Guitar Player?
As soon as your order arrives, the painter starts building the work in oil on canvas, one layer after another. First he lays out the large areas: the bright figure of the girl, the white wall and the darker parts towards the edges.
Then come the yellow jacket and the satin dress, with their sheen and soft folds. The smiling face gets special care, since it carries the mood of the scene. Pearls, guitar ornament and blurred strings come last, with a fine brush.
What you get is a Vermeer reproduction with visible brushstrokes that no print can imitate. Like any oil painting reproduction, it changes with daylight: the yellow looks fresh in the morning and takes on a warmer glow in the evening.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 43 x 47 or 56 x 64 cm for a bedside table, a desk or a narrow wall, 64 x 76 or 72 x 85 cm above a chest of drawers or a piano, 90 x 107 or 120 x 140 cm above a sofa, and 135 x 160 or 172 x 200 cm for a stairwell or a tall wall.
You can choose between 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 43 x 47, 56 x 64, 64 x 76, 72 x 85, 90 x 107, 120 x 140, 135 x 160 and 172 x 200 cm. The nearest to the original is 43 x 47 cm, which is 3.3 cm narrower and 6 cm shorter.
Small sizes keep the intimacy of the little canvas; large ones make the musician the focal point of the wall. As a painting for the living room above a sofa, choose 90 x 107 cm and hang it with her smile near eye level.
Can I choose another size or a frame?
Yes. The original is about 7 : 8 in proportion, so we can paint it in an unlisted size without losing the guitar or the landscape at the edge. Tell us here the width and height you want, and we will reply with a price and a time frame.
You can receive The Guitar Player rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or ready framed; our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and the framing. The frame itself is picked in our 3D application, which serves only that choice; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
The yellow jacket and the gilt frame of the painted landscape go well with a warm gold frame, while dark wood gives a quieter look.
When will The Guitar Player arrive?
We start painting once your order is confirmed, and in 15 to 45 working days the painting is ready to travel. Before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished Guitar Player and adjust anything you ask for.
Within Slovenia and the rest of the EU it travels with no customs charges, and every order is covered by our returns policy.
The Guitar Player makes a warm gift for a musician, a guitar teacher or anyone who loves to sing. If you would rather they picked the size themselves, give them a wall art voucher.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
At Kenwood House in London, in the Iveagh Bequest.
What kind of guitar is she playing?
A five-course guitar, the usual type for 17th-century solo players.
Was the painting really stolen?
Yes, in February 1974, but it was found that May and returned to Kenwood House.
Is it a print?
No. Each one we make is a hand-painted copy in oil on canvas.
What are the dimensions of the original?
It is 53 cm high and 46.3 cm wide; our nearest size is 43 x 47 cm.
Would it suit a bedroom?
Yes, one cheerful figure in warm colours suits a bedroom or a music room.
Can I order it in my own size?
Certainly; tell us the size and we send the price and the timing.
How soon is the painting ready?
In 15 to 45 working days, and before dispatch you get a photograph of the finished Guitar Player.
- Subject: a laughing young woman in a yellow fur-trimmed jacket and pearls plays the guitar before a gilt-framed landscape.
- Original: c. 1672, oil on canvas, 53 x 46.3 cm, Kenwood House, London.
- Ours: oil on canvas, painted by hand for you, in 8 portrait sizes from 43 x 47 to 172 x 200 cm or a size you choose.
- Worth knowing: stolen in 1974, it was found that spring and returned to Kenwood House.
