Artist · 1632 to 1675
Johannes Vermeer
A painter of quiet rooms in Delft, who finished perhaps three dozen pictures and was nearly forgotten for two centuries.
Vermeer worked in one town, in a handful of rooms, with a small number of models and a restricted palette. His pictures are small, slow and exact. They are also the reason the Northlight studio exists: the first print we ever pulled was a Vermeer.
Life
He was baptised in Delft in 1632 and spent his working life there. He joined the painters' guild in 1653, the year of his marriage, and later served as its head. He died in 1675, leaving his wife with a large family and a heap of debts.
The editions we print
Printed from public-domain museum files and proofed against the museum's photograph. Girl with a Pearl Earring, above, stands in for his portrait, so the editions show his other work.
c. 1660