Johannes Vermeer or Jan Vermeer (baptized October 31, 1632, died December 15, 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of ordinary bourgeois life. His entire life was spent in the town of Delft.

Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial painter in his lifetime. He seems to have never been particularly wealthy, perhaps due to the fact that he produced relatively few paintings, leaving his wife and eleven children in debt at his death.

Virtually forgotten for nearly two hundred years, in 1866 the art critic Thoré Burger published an essay attributing 66 pictures to him (only 34 paintings are firmly attributed to him today).

Since that time Vermeer's reputation has grown astronomically, and he is now acknowledged as one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age, and is particularly renowned for his masterly treatment and use of light in his work.

Vermeer's Women: Secrets and Silence by Marjorie E. Wieseman, Wayne Franits, H. Perry Chapman – Hardcover: 224 pages; Yale University Press (Dec 28, 2011)

Focusing on the extraordinary Lacemaker from the Musée du Louvre, this beautiful book investigates the subtle and enigmatic paintings by Johannes Vermeer that celebrate the intimacy of the Dutch household.

Vermeer by John M. Nash Paperback: 128 pages; Scala Publishers (Jul 2002)

Reader review: The reproductions of the paintings are beautiful, and that is what we buy an art book. The author has fascinating details to relate and he is lively and impassioned in style! He writes about Vermeer's "suspended psychological moment". John Nash divides the paintings into Music, Letters, etc. He shows the works of master painters of Delft of the time and how they treat similar subjects

Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Masterpieces by Philip Steadman – Hardcover: 232 pages; Oxford University Press, USA (Jun 1, 2001)

Did the famous Delft artist, Johannes Vermeer, use the camera obscura to create his remarkably photographic paintings? People have been asking that question for a century or more. To help answer it, Philip Steadman has written this great little book. It is truly an enjoyable investigation of Vermeer's acquaintances, studio, and style.

A View of Delft: Vermeer and his Contemporaries by Walter Liedtke Hardcover: 320 pages; Yale University Press (Sep 1, 2001)

Liedtke, the curator of European paintings at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, has produced a book that is broad in scope but refined in detail. He reviews the artists who resided in Delft or "South Holland," as Liedtke chooses to refer to the area between the years 1650 and 1675.

Following close on the heels of the recent "Vermeer and the Delft School" exhibit at the Met, this book, though conspicuous in both proximity and theme to the exhibit, is not a catalog of the works therein. Here Liedtke, who also wrote Vermeer and the Delft School (LJ 6/15/01), which served as catalog, examines how perception and style interact and concentrates on examining works with a strong fidelity to visual experience, such as Carel Fabritius's townscape A View in Delft and Gerard Houckgeest's Nieuwe Kerk in Delft with the Tomb of William the Silent. He shows the Delft artists to be conventional men immersed in and affected by their culture.

Vermeer Studies (Studies in the History of Art Series, Na) by Ivan Gaskell, Michiel Jonker – Hardcover: 372 pages; National Gallery Washington (Oct 11, 1998)

More than three centuries after he created them, the exquisite, enigmatic paintings of Johannes Vermeer continue to intrigue. In this volume, scholars, conservators, and scientists investigate Vermeer`s art and the milieu in which he worked. They offer insight into the current state of understanding of the Dutch master`s art and focus special attention on the unique qualities of his paintings.

Vermeer: The Complete Works by Arthur K Wheelock, Jr. – Paperback: 72 pages; Harry N. Abrams (Sep 1, 1997)

Following the blockbuster exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., this book presents the complete works of the great Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). Oversize, full-page color plates of each of Vermeer's 35 known masterpieces capture the luminosity and the remarkable originality of the paintings and make this the next best thing to actually having attended the sold-out show. 68 illustrations, including 44 in full color.

Johannes Vermeer by Arthur K., Wheelock Jr. – Hardcover: 232 pages; Yale University Press; 1st edition (Oct 25, 1995)

In this strikingly beautiful book, leading Vermeer scholars examine the life and works of this seventeenth-century Dutch master, analyzing his evolution from a painter of religious and mythological images to an artist who explored the psychological nuances of human endeavor.

Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier – Hardcover: 240 pages; Dutton Adult; 1st edition (Jan 1, 2000)

With precisely 35 canvases to his credit, the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer represents one of the great enigmas of 17th-century art. The meager facts of his biography have been gleaned from a handful of legal documents. Yet Vermeer's extraordinary paintings of domestic life, with their subtle play of light and texture, have come to define the Dutch golden age. His portrait of the anonymous Girl with a Pearl Earring has exerted a particular fascination for centuries—and it is this magnetic painting that lies at the heart of Tracy Chevalier's second novel of the same title.

Vermeer: The Master of Light and Composition—His Life in Paintings by Johannes Vermeer, Stefano Zuffi – Paperback: 144 pages; Dk Pub Merchandise (Dec 1999)

Virtually unknown until the 19th century, Jan Vermeer is now considered one of the great Dutch artists, celebrated for his radiant, naturalistic light. Marvel at this 17th century painter's small but brilliant output and his masterful portrayal of domestic life and the interior.

Jan Vermeer by Arthur K. Wheelock – Hardcover: 160 pages; Abradale Press (Oct 1998)

This book is not an easy read, but it does provide wonderful insights into how Vermeer achieved the effects he did. It certainly heightened my appreciation of his work, both in technical and in artistic terms.

A Study of Vermeer by Edward A. Snow – Paperback; revised & enlarged edition (Apr 1994) University of California Press

"An exemplary book about seeing: about what the mind can do with great art. Like the sublime paintings which are its subject, A Study of Vermeer is full of sensual and spiritual pleasures." (Susan Sontag)

Vermeer & the Art of Painting by Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. – Hardcover: 205 pages; Yale University Press (Jul 1995)

The exquisite paintings of Jan Vermeer, with their luminous colors and gradations of reflected light, are admired by art lovers everywhere. This lovely book examines the creative process and technical means by which the great seventeenth-century Dutch painter achieved his remarkable pictorial effects.

Portrait of an Artist: Vermeer – Love, Light and Silence (1996) Color, NTSC
Jun 13, 2000
50 minutes

Vermeer and Rembrandt are the twin pillars of the Golden Age of Dutch painting, yet Vermeer's works were neglected during his lifetime. This, the first program to profile Jan Vermeer, investigates the life and art of this elusive figure.

Vermeer of Delft: Complete Edition of the Paintings by Albert Blankert – Hardcover: 176 pages; Phaidon (1978)

The Dutch Masters: Vermeer (2000) Actors: Champagne, Charisma, Marc De Bruin, Tanya deVries, Rebecca Steele

Directors: Eric Edwards
Color, Dolby, NTSC
DVD Release Date: June 27, 2006
Run Time: 50 minutes

The Dutch Masters Boxed Set / Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Dyck, Rubens, Bosch, Bruegel
Multiple Formats, Color, Dolby, NTSC
Jun 27, 2006
300 minutes

The Great Artists chronicles the lives, times and works of the men whose genius has captivated the art world for generations. Informative and entertaining, the series highlights important events in each artist's life, explores their stylistic trademarks, and provides detailed explanations of their techniques.

Vermeer and Painting in Delft by Axel Ruger Paperback: 72 pages; National Gallery London (Sep 1, 2001)

Investigating the artistic production of the city genre by genre, the author builds a picture of the so-called Delft School and its influences. Although painting from this time is probably best known for Vermeer's serene scenes of everyday life, his contemporaries chose many different subjects. The church interiors of Gerard Houckgeest and Emanuel de Witte, the atmospheric landscapes and townscapes of Paulus Potter and Daniel Vosmaer, and the elegant portraits of Michiel van Miereveld all represent significant aspects of Delft's rich heritage, and all are reproduced here. The artists' shared interest in the close observation of reality, and their preoccupation with light and atmospheric effects, link together the works they produced. From Vermeer's world-famous masterpieces to the less familiar works of the period, all these refined paintings reflect a powerful sensibility to the visual aspects of the world as their makers perceived it.

Vermeer's World: An Artist and His Town (Pegasus Library) by Irene Netta Hardcover: 95 pages; Prestel Publishing (Sep 2001)

Jan Vermeer (1632 –1675) is widely acknowledged as one of the most important painters of the 17th century. His paintings of genre scenes and landscapes are famous throughout the world for their exquisite use of light. Vermeer ’s World gives a fascinating insight into the life and works of the Dutch artist. With its reproductions of the 35 paintings known to be authentic, the book also functions as a catalogue of the artist ’s work.

Vermeer and the Invention of Seeing by Bryan Jay Wolf – Hardcover: 344 pages; University of Chicago Press (Dec 2001)

This book begins with a single premise: that Vermeer painted images not only of extraordinary beauty, but of extraordinary strangeness. To understand that strangeness, Bryan Jay Wolf turns to the history of early modernism and to ways of seeing that first developed in the seventeenth century. In a series of provocative readings, Wolf presents Vermeer in bracing new ways, arguing for the painter's immersion in—rather than withdrawal from—the intellectual concerns of his day.

This beautifully illustrated book situates Vermeer in relation to his predecessors and contemporaries, and it demonstrates how powerfully he wrestled with questions of gender, class, and representation. By rethinking Vermeer's achievement in relation to the early modern world that gave him birth, Wolf takes northern Renaissance and early modern studies in new directions.

Vermeer and the Delft School by Walter Liedtke, Michiel C. Plomp, Axel Ruger – Hardcover: 550 pages; Yale University Press (Mar 1, 2001)

This rich and rewarding volume accompanies a wide-ranging exhibition, which opened to deserved acclaim at New York's Metropolitan Museum and is currently on view at the National Gallery in London. Vermeer's popularity has continued to soar in recent years, and this well-deserved recognition is validated in this catalog, which brings 16 of his existing canvases together with contextual information that explains the paintings as more than works of an isolated genius.

A Vermeer: A View of Delft by Anthony Bailey Hardcover: 256 pages; Henry Holt and Company (Apr 16, 2001)

Fluent essayist and New Yorker contributor Bailey (Standing in the Sun, LJ 1/99) gives a personalized overview of Johannes Vermeer, reading from the paintings to the man, and vice versa. Much of Bailey's factual underpinnings comes from the work of John Montias (Vermeer and His Milieu, 1989. o.p., and Artists and Artisans of Delft, 1982. o.p.), but he has a penetrating eye himself, and Vermeer, of whom so much is unknown, is a topic of perpetual interest. Organized around individual paintings, Bailey's essay begins with the great gunpowder explosion of 1654 and ends with the reverberations of Vermeer's art in the writings of Marcel Proust and the forgeries of Hans Van Meegeren. A meditative personal chapter follows, addressing Vermeer's seeming ability to stop time in his paintings. Bailey effectively retells much that is known about many of Vermeer's contemporaries, such as the scientist Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek, and speculates on his apparent Catholic faith in the Protestant Netherlands. Highly recommended for general collections and also for art history collections for its broad view and effective style. (Plates not seen.) — Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Libs.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Vermeer (Basic Art) by Norbert Schneider – Paperback: 96 pages; Taschen; Revised edition (May 2000)

This little book is amazing! The author discusses each of Vermeer's known 35 paintings, bringing intelligence and insight to the artist and his works. Though not much is known about Vermeer's life, we learn a fair amount about his techniques and the influences from which he drew. I found it extremely impressive and useful that when the author mentioned another artist or a painting that Vermeer knew, these were also pictured, so that I really learned a great deal about this fascinating artist's time as well.