Dutch painter Vermeer wedded Catharina Bolnes, in April 1653. His wife bore him 15 children, four of whom died before baptism but were documented as “children of Johan Vermeer.”
Vermeer was a well-known artist in Delft, but he was virtually obscure outside of his city. Catharina Bolnes said her husband died as a result of financial stress.
Like most artists of his day, Vermeer may have begun his works tonally, using either monochromatic shades of grey or a restricted palette of greys and browns, before layering more intense colors.
Vermeer is most renowned for his use of lead-tin-yellow such as in A Lady Writing a Letter (1665), ultramarine, as can be seen in The Milkmaid (1658), and vermilion.
Vermeer’s painting methods have been a matter of contention, owing to their virtually photorealistic meticulousness, despite his lack of academic instruction.
Almost all of his paintings that still survive are from this time and are mainly residential interiors with a couple of individuals lit by a window from the left of the canvas.
For the first two centuries after his death, art historians mostly ignored Vermeer’s works. Following the revival of Vermeer’s works, numerous notable Dutch artists, notably Simon Duiker, adopted his style.
The Procuress (1656)The Little Street (1658)Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window (c. 1659)Woman Reading a Book (1664)Girl with a Pearl Earring (1665)The Art of Painting (1668)