The Art of Painting ( Johannes Vermeer

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The Art of Painting

Artists thrived in the Netherlands during the Golden Age of Dutch Art in the 17th century, and they had tremendous contributions in the art history. Some painters came form the big cities – like Rembrandt from Amsterdam – and got recognition for during their lifetime and got famous. And some painters painted brilliant paintings, but during their lifetime, they were not appreciated for their works. Such one painter is Johannes (1632 – 1675) who created some of the most precious paintings of Northern Europe. His reputation is based on only 35 paintings, but during his lifetime he was virtually unknown to the world and was not appreciated to for his works. Created some 200 years ago before the invention of modern camera, his paintings still fascinates modern filmmakers. His paintings are remarkably photographic and make modern viewers wonder how did he do that. Although many critics of Vermeer believe that he used Camera Obscura to paint his photographic paintings, actually modern technology proves that Vermeer used a simple technique known for centuries to paint his masterpieces.

Vermeer often shows calm and quietness in most of his paintings, but his life was surprisingly different. Very little is known about Vermeer’s life, and only information can be obtained is from the legal documents. He was born in a protestant family in 1632 in a small province of Holland called Delft that had only 25000 people. His father was an art dealer so Vermeer started his career as a painter from an early age. At age of 20, he inherited his father’s of art dealership and became a master painter, but struggled to keep up with the fierce competition. Unable to pay his rent, he got married to a catholic woman, Katarina Bolnes, in 1653. He converted to Catholicism to make he’s mother-in-law happy, and moved into her house where the couple had 15 children over the

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