You are here: Home / Biography / Johannes Vermeer - Some Facts on his Life, Work and Legacy

Johannes Vermeer - Some Facts on his Life, Work and Legacy


Although, we do not too much for sure about the life of Johannes Vermeer, we still are able to gather some interesting facts concerning the biography, art and legacy
of this Dutch master:

  • Among the most valuable paintings ever is The Girl with a pearl earring, which has an estimated value of 390 million dollars (almost half of Mona Lisa’s value, estimated at 642 million dollars). The painting has also been called the Northern Mona Lisa or Dutch Mona Lisa. The painting is to b found at the Mauritshus Museum, Hague
  • Just recently, in March 2010, 20 years after the biggest robbery of the art history took place, the FBI reopens this case: We can hope that the 13 paintings estimated at more than 500 million dollars will be recovered. On the 18th of March 1990 13 paintings signed by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and Manet were stolen from the Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and haven’t been found until today.
  • In 2004 a painting by Vermeer was sold for not less than 24 million Euros. The auction took place at Sotheby’s House. Hence, “A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals” was the fourth most expensive painting sold in that year.
  • The heirs of an Austrian family are demand the Austrian state to return them a work painted by Vermeer (The art of painting). The family claims that the painting was sold to Hitler after the family was forced to do so. The painting was in the possession of Czernin counts since the 19th century. Jaromir Czernin sold the painting for 1.65 million of Reichsmarks. Today the painting is exposed at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. According to an expert, the “Art of painting” values some 130 million US-Dollars.
  • Less than 40 works, more precisely 37 paintings are attributed to this “artist of the light”. So when Mauritshuis Museum from Hague gathered 21 paintings. They just made a record with realizing the largest Vermeer exhibition ever. More paintings were gathered just in auction at 1691 – the so called Dissius auction. However, at Delft’s you can admire a set of reproductions covering 36 of Vermeer’s paintings. They are actually well done.