Where can you see Johannes Vermeer in London?

At the National Gallery: A Young Woman standing at a Virginal. At the Kenwood House: The Guitar Player. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

What is Johannes Vermeer's most famous work in London?

A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, of about 1670 to 1672, at the National Gallery. A woman in silk rests her hands on the keys and looks at us. Daylight falls from the left as in every Vermeer, and a picture of Cupid on the wall behind her says what the music is about.

When and where was Johannes Vermeer born?

In October 1632, at Delft, Netherlands. Johannes Vermeer died on 15 December 1675, at Delft, Netherlands, aged about 43.

What is Johannes Vermeer known for?

About thirty-five paintings by him are known. The Guitar Player was stolen from Kenwood in 1974 and found ten weeks later in a churchyard. Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter, of the Dutch Golden Age.

Painter, 1632 to 1675

Johannes Vermeer

All three of London's Vermeers are late and all are about music. The two in the National Gallery may have been painted as a pair.

Born: 1632, Delft, Netherlands
Died: 1675, Delft, Netherlands
Movement: Dutch Golden Age
In London: 2 works in 2 museums

Where to see Johannes Vermeer in London

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

The National Gallery1 work

A Young Woman standing at a Virginal
about 1670 to 1672
A woman in silk rests her hands on the keys and looks at us. Daylight falls from the left as in every Vermeer, and a picture of Cupid on the wall behind her says what the music is about.

Kenwood House1 work

The Guitar Player
about 1672
A girl turns from her guitar towards someone out of the picture, smiling. It is still on its first canvas and stretcher, which is rare for a painting of its age.

The life of Johannes Vermeer

Vermeer spent his whole life in Delft, where he was born in 1632. He painted slowly, perhaps two or three pictures a year, almost all of them of a woman or a man alone in the corner of a room, lit from a window on the left. He also dealt in paintings and ran the family inn.

He died in 1675, in debt, leaving a widow and eleven children. He was nearly forgotten for two hundred years, until a French critic rediscovered him in the 1860s. Today each of his paintings is a pilgrimage.

What to know

About thirty-five paintings by him are known
The Guitar Player was stolen from Kenwood in 1974 and found ten weeks later in a churchyard

Born: October 1632, Delft, Netherlands
Died: 15 December 1675, Delft, Netherlands

Johannes Vermeer: common questions

Where can you see Johannes Vermeer in London?: At the National Gallery: A Young Woman standing at a Virginal. At the Kenwood House: The Guitar Player. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Johannes Vermeer's most famous work in London?: A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, of about 1670 to 1672, at the National Gallery. A woman in silk rests her hands on the keys and looks at us. Daylight falls from the left as in every Vermeer, and a picture of Cupid on the wall behind her says what the music is about.
When and where was Johannes Vermeer born?: In October 1632, at Delft, Netherlands. Johannes Vermeer died on 15 December 1675, at Delft, Netherlands, aged about 43.
What is Johannes Vermeer known for?: About thirty-five paintings by him are known. The Guitar Player was stolen from Kenwood in 1974 and found ten weeks later in a churchyard. Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter, of the Dutch Golden Age.