The Artist

Johannes Vermeer

Dutch · 1632 - 1675 · Dutch Golden Age

Only about thirty-five known paintings survive from Vermeer, and most depict a single quiet room with natural light from one window. Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Milkmaid, Woman Reading a Letter — small canvases that feel enormous because of how deliberately he placed every color and shadow. As prints they reward proximity, the way blue, lemon-yellow, and white pearl up out of the dark.