Do you know who Johannes Vermeer was? Today, we are celebrating Johannes Vermeer, the Dutch artist who created paintings that are among the most beloved and revered images in the history of art. Although only about 36 of his paintings survive, these rare works are among the greatest treasures in the world’s finest museums. Vermeer began his career in the early 1650s by painting large-scale biblical and mythological scenes, but most of his later paintings—the ones for which he is most famous—depict scenes of daily life in interior settings. On this day in 1995, an eponymous exhibition opened at Washington D.C.’s National Gallery of Art, featuring 21 of his 35 existing works.

 

Source