When Jan Vermeer’s masterpiece “Young Woman Seated at a Virginal” sold at auction in 2004, it fetched $30 million, a record for the artist and a remarkable achievement for the Dutch Baroque painter who left his wife and 10 children destitute when he died 335 years ago.
While Vermeer, Frans Hals and Rembrandt are the three big names in the golden age of Dutch art, Vermeers are rare, with fewer than 40 known.
Part of Vermeer’s holdup in turning out work seems to be that he was extremely methodical. Rembrandt, by comparison, produced some 300 painting and another 300 prints.
According to author Sandra Forty, “(Vermeer) seems rarely to have sold a painting, although when he did it apparently paid well: one is known to have sold for 600 guilders, although fashionable Amsterdam painters could command much higher prices for their work.”