VERMEER, JAN

born Oct. 31, 1632, Delft, Neth.buried Dec. 15, 1675, Delft Young Woman with a Water Jug, oil painting by Jan Vermeer, c. 165860; Jan also rendered Johannes painter, mainly of interior genre subjects, who was one of the masters of Dutch art in the 17th century. He had an unerring grasp of pictorial design and a pure and individual colour sense. But the most extraordinary element in his art is the unswerving objectivity with which he recorded the soft play of daylight on varied shapes and surfaces (see photograph). His masterpieces include the self-portrait Allegory of Painting (c. 1665). Additional reading Henry Havard, Van der Meer de Delft (1888), the first book on the painter discovered by the French critic Thor-Brger, who published on Vermeer only in art reviews (on Thor-Brger, see Andr Blum, Vermeer et Thor-Brger, 1945); Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, Jan Vermeer van Delft en Carel Fabritius (190730; Eng. trans. 1909), by the great Dutch art critic who investigated the school of Delft painting; Gustave Vanzype, Vermeer de Delft, new ed. (1925), a well-documented study (in French); Eduard Plietzsch, Vermeer van Delft, 2nd ed. (1939); A.B. de Vries, Jan Vermeer de Delft, corrected ed. with Ren Huyghe (1948); P.T.A. Swillens, Johannes Vermeer, Painter of Delft, 16321675 (Eng. trans. 1950), the most complete work in the 1950s; Andr Malraux, Vermeer de Delft (1952), the painter as seen by the French novelist and poet of history; Lawrence Gowing, Vermeer (1952), an erudite and sensitive commentary; Vitale Bloch, Tutta la pittura di Vermeer di Delft (1954; All the Paintings of Jan Vermeer, 1963), a scholarly work providing a perceptive analysis of the paintings; Ludwig Goldscheider, Vermeer, Gemlde, Gesamtausgabe (1958; Vermeer Paintings, Complete Edition, 2nd ed. 1967), a survey of present knowledge on the artist; Pierre Descargues, Vermeer (Eng. trans. 1966); Piero Bianconi, L'opera completa di Vermeer (1967), a dictionary of Vermeer; J.G. van Gelder, Vermeer (1968), as seen in historical perspective. A whole bibliography might be devoted to the affair of the fake Vermeer produced by Hans van Meegeren. On this subject see Abraham Bredius, New Vermeer: Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus, Burlington Magazine, 71:210211 (1937); two books written from opposing viewpoints: Paul B. Coreman, Van Meegeren's Faked Vermeers and de Hooghs (1949) and Jean Decoen, Retour la vrit (1951); and Decoen's Controverse sur l'affaire Vermeer, in Connaissance des Arts, no. 240, pp. 79 (1972). Dirk Hannema, Over Johannes Vermeer van Delft (1972; in English), proposes new Vermeers. Major Works: A Girl Asleep (c. 1656; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City); Officer and Laughing Girl (c. 1657; Frick Collection, New York City); Lady Reading a Letter at an Open Window (c. 1657; Gemldegalerie, Dresden, Ger.); Girl Drinking Wine with a Gentleman (c. 165860; Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin); The Kitchen-Maid (c. 1658; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam); Young Woman with a Water Jug (c. 165860; Metropolitan Museum of Art); The Little Street (c. 1658; Rijksmuseum); The Music Lesson: A Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman Listening (c. 1660; Buckingham Palace, London); View of Delft (c. 1660; Mauritshuis, The Hague); Young Lady with a Pearl Necklace (166263; Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz); A Woman Weighing Gold (c. 166263; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.); Young Woman Reading a Letter (c. 166263; Rijksmuseum); Dentellire (The Lacemaker; c. 166465; Louvre, Paris); Allegory of Painting (c. 1665; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna); Head of a Young Girl (c. 1665; Mauritshuis); The Girl with a Red Hat (c. 1665; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.); Young Girl with a Flute (c. 1665; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.); The Letter (c. 1666; Rijksmuseum); A Lady Writing a Letter, with Her Maid (c. 1667; Sir Alfred Beit Collection, Russ Borough, Co. Wicklow, Ire.); The Astronomer (1668; Baron Edouard de Rothschild Collection, Paris); Der Astronom, sometimes known as The Geographer (1669; Stdelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main); Allegory of the Faith (c. 166970; Metropolitan Museum of Art); A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal (c. 1670; National Gallery, London).