Vermeer, Jan, << vuhr MEER, yahn >> (1632-1675), was a Dutch painter. He was especially skilled at painting simply furnished domestic interiors in which young, middle-class men and women talk, drink, or play musical instruments. Vermeer is also known for paintings of individual female figures quietly performing simple tasks before a mirror or a window, such as reading a letter or holding a pitcher. He placed his figures close to the viewer in relatively simplified composition. Many of his subjects appear caught in tranquil moments of concentration.
Vermeer employed the pointillist or stippling method of painting. In this method, the painter uses small dots or points of unmixed color that blend in the eye of the viewer. In paintings such as The Lacemaker and The Milk Maid, Vermeer used this technique to suggest the illusion of soft light playing fleetingly over the textures of surfaces. Vermeer’s conception of soft light results in slightly blurred outlines.
Vermeer’s two outdoor scenes, The View of Delft and Street in Delft, rank among the finest landscape paintings of the 1600’s. Vermeer was born in Delft on Oct. 31, 1632. He spent his entire life there, working primarily as an art dealer and innkeeper. He died on Dec. 15, 1675.
