List of paintings by Johannes Vermeer
The following is a list of paintings by the Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer. After two or three early history paintings, he concentrated almost entirely on genre works, typically interiors with one or two figures. His popularity is due less to his subject matter than to the poetic manner in which he portrays his subjects. Vermeer's paintings of the 1660s are generally more popular than his work from the 1670s: in the eyes of some, his later work is colder.[2]
Today, 34 paintings are firmly attributed to him, with question marks over a further three.[3] This compares to the 74 pictures attributed to him by Thoré-Bürger in 1866. Vermeer's reputation increased greatly during the latter half of the 20th century, a period during which the number of paintings ascribed to him shrank greatly.[4] This is partly because he has been one of the most widely forged artists, and many forgeries have now been identified. No drawings or preparatory paintings are known.[5] Many Vermeer paintings are known by various names, and alternative names are noted below. Years of creation are only estimates for most of the paintings, and sources often give different, though not widely divergent, estimates. In addition to the known paintings listed below, historical documents seem to describe at least six other, lost, works.[5]
Paintings by Johannes Vermeer
Image | Title | Year | Size | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
Christ in the House of Martha and Mary[6] | 1654–55 or c. 1654–56[7] or c. 1655[8] | Oil on canvas, 160 × 142 cm | National Gallery of Scotland, | |
Diana and Her Companions[9] | 1655–56 or c. 1653–54[7][8] | Oil on canvas, 98.5 × 105 cm | Mauritshuis, The Hague | |
The Procuress[10] | 1656 (signed and dated) | Oil on canvas, 143 × 130 cm | Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden | |
Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window[11] (also known as Young Woman Reading a Letter at an Open Window[7]) |
1657 (or c. 1657–59[7]) | Oil on canvas, 83 × 64.5 cm | Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden | |
A Girl Asleep (also known as A Maid Asleep[7][8]) |
1657 (or 1656–57[7][8]) |
Oil on canvas, 87.6 × 76.5 cm | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | |
The Little Street | 1657–58 or c. 1658[7] or c. 1658–60[8] |
Oil on canvas, 54.3 × 44 cm | Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam | |
Officer with a Laughing Girl (also known as Officer and Laughing Girl)[7] |
c. 1657[7] | Oil on canvas, 50.5 × 46 cm | Frick Collection, New York | |
The Milkmaid | c. 1658[7] or c. 1657–58[8] | Oil on canvas, 45.5 × 41 cm | Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam | |
The Wine Glass, also known as A Lady Drinking and a Gentleman and The Glass of Wine[8] | 1658–60 or 1658–59[8] | Oil on canvas, 39.4 × 44.5 cm | Gemäldegalerie, Berlin | |
The Girl with the Wineglass | c. 1659 | Oil on canvas, 78 × 67.5 cm | Herzog Anton-Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig | |
View of Delft[12] | 1659–60 | Oil on canvas, 98.5 × 117.5 cm | Mauritshuis, The Hague | |
Girl Interrupted at Her Music | 1660–61 (or 1658–59[7]) | Oil on canvas, 39.4 × 44.5 cm | Frick Collection, New York | |
Woman Reading a Letter | 1663–64 (or 1657–59[7]) | Oil on canvas, 46.6 × 39.1 cm | Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam | |
The Music Lesson (also known as A Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman) |
1662/65 | Oil on canvas, 73.3 × 64.5 cm | Royal Collection, Buckingham Palace, England | |
Woman with a Lute | c. 1663–64 or 1662–63[8] | Oil on canvas, 51.4 × 45.7 cm | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | |
Woman with a Pearl Necklace | 1662–64 | Oil on canvas, 55 × 45 cm | Gemäldegalerie, Berlin | |
Woman with a Water Jug, also known as Young Woman with a Water Pitcher[8] | 1660–62 or c. 1662[8] | Oil on canvas, 45.7 × 40.6 cm | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | |
Woman Holding a Balance, also known as Woman with a Balance[8] | 1662–63 or c. 1663–64[8] | Oil on canvas, 42.5 × 38 cm | National Gallery of Art, Washington | |
A Lady Writing a Letter | 1665–66 | Oil on canvas, 45 × 40 cm | National Gallery of Art, Washington | |
Girl with a Pearl Earring, also known as Girl In A Turban, Head Of Girl In A Turban, The Young Girl With Turban, and Head of a Young Girl. |
c. 1665 | Oil on canvas, 46.5 × 40 cm | Mauritshuis, The Hague | |
The Concert | 1665–66 | Oil on canvas, 72.5 × 64.7 cm | Missing since its theft from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston in 1990[13] | |
Portrait of a Young Woman, also known as Study of a Young Woman | 1666–67 or c. 1665–67[8] | Oil on canvas, 44.5 × 40 cm | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | |
The Allegory of Painting, also known as The Art of Painting |
1666–67 or c. 1666–68[8] | Oil on canvas, 100 × 120 cm | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna | |
Mistress and Maid, also known as Lady with her Maidservant Holding a Letter |
1667/68 | Oil on canvas, 90.2 × 78.7 cm | Frick Collection, New York | |
Girl with a Red Hat (attribution to Vermeer has been questioned)[14] | 1668 or c. 1665–67[8] | Oil on panel, 22.8 × 18 cm | National Gallery of Art, Washington | |
The Astronomer | 1668 | Oil on canvas, 50.8 × 46.3 cm | Louvre, Paris | |
The Geographer | 1668/69 | Oil on canvas, 53 × 46.6 cm | Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main | |
The Lacemaker | 1669/70 | Oil on canvas, 24.5 × 21 cm | Louvre, Paris | |
The Love Letter | 1669/70 | Oil on canvas, 44 × 38.5 cm | Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam | |
Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid | 1670 | Oil on canvas, 71.1 × 58.4 cm | National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin | |
The Allegory of Faith, also known as Allegory of the Faith[8] | 1671–74 or c. 1670–72[8] | Oil on canvas, 114.3 × 88.9 cm | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York | |
The Guitar Player | 1672 | Oil on canvas, 53 × 46.3 cm | Kenwood House, London | |
Lady Standing at a Virginal, also known as Young Woman Standing at a Virginal[8] | 1673–75 or c. 1670–72[8] | Oil on canvas, 51.7 × 45.2 cm | National Gallery, London | |
Lady Seated at a Virginal, also known as Young Woman Seated at a Virginal[8] | 1673–75 or c. 1670–72[8] | Oil on canvas, 51.5 × 45.5 cm | National Gallery, London | |
Disputed paintings
Image | Title | Year | Size | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
Saint Praxedis | 1655[3] | Oil on canvas, 101.6 x 82.6 cm | Private Collection, Tokyo On loan to the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo | |
Girl with a Flute | 1665–70[3] | Oil on panel, 20 x 17.8 cm | National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. | |
A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals | c. 1670[3] | Oil on canvas, 25.2 × 20 cm | Leiden Collection, United States |
Lost works
Historical documents such as auction records suggest that Vermeer painted a number of other works, now presumably destroyed, lost to public view, or possibly wrongly attributed to other artists.[5] While a list of these lost Vermeers must necessarily be tentative, it may include:
- a self-portrait
- a painting of a man washing his hands
- a second street scene (the first being The Little Street)
- a Visit to the Tomb – possibly Biblical
- a mythological painting including Jupiter
- a relatively early painting described as a 'face by Vermeer'[5]
Footnotes
- "The Procuress: Evidence for a Vermeer Self-Portrait". Retrieved 13 September 2010.
- Bonafoux, 124
- Jonathan Janson, Essential Vermeer: complete Vermeer catalogue accessed 16 June 2010
- Bonafoux, 144
- Jon Boone, Essential Vermeer: How many Vermeer's? (sic) accessed 22 January 2010
- Wheelock, 48
- or c. 1655Cant, Serena (2009). Vermeer and His World 1632–1675. Quercus Publishing Plc. ISBN 978-1-84866-001-4.
- Liedtke, Walter; et al. (2001). Vermeer and the Delft School. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Yale University Press, New Haven. ISBN 0-300-08848-5.
- Wheelock, 52
- Wheelock, 54
- Wheelock, 58
- Wheelock, 72
- Stolen, a documentary about the theft of The Concert, from the PBS website
- NGA catalog entry
Sources
- Bonafoux, Pascal. Vermeer. New York: Konecky & Konecky, 1992. ISBN 1-56852-308-4
- Cant, Serena. Vermeer and His World 1632–1675, Quercus Publishing Plc, 2009. ISBN 978-1-84866-001-4
- Wheelock, Arthur K. Vermeer: The Complete Works. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997. ISBN 0-8109-2751-9