Woman in Blue Reading a Letter by Johannes Vermeer

Woman in Blue Reading a Letter - Johannes Vermeer - Canvas Wall Art

At a Glance

Woman in Blue Reading a Letter - Johannes Vermeer - Canvas Wall Art is part of our hand painted oil painting collection from the Various Artists selection. Each canvas is worked by a trained artist, then inspected before dispatch — a practical route to owning classical wall decor at a fraction of gallery pricing.

Composition & Subject

c. 1663-1664
Oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Netherlands.

A young woman is reading a letter, around her are a table and chairs. She is illuminated by the light from what is presumably a window. On the wall behind her is a map. The artist has achieved a muted tone with his use of blues and browns. Vermeer has played here with the light and shadow. While the map and the chair cast a distinct shadow on the wall, the woman does not. It makes her stands out from the background. The subtle gradations of color and the contrasts in this painting were already greatly admired two hundred years ago. A 1791 auction catalogue remarks on 'the pleasing effects of light and shadow'.

Love letter ?

In Dutch genre painting a woman reading a letter was usually a reference to love. The map on the wall may refer to a distant lover, but the painting offers no further clues to a hidden meaning. The map, showing Holland and West Friesland appears in an earlier painting by Vermeer of the Soldier and the Laughing Girl. This picture, painted in 1658, is now in the Frick Collection in New York. Although the young woman appears to be pregnant, this is not necessarily the case. The fashionable wide jacket she is wearing may make her figure appear fuller than it is.

Lines and areas

The woman is surrounded by furniture. The table and chairs define the space around her. Vermeer adjusted the balance in his painting by playing with the areas of light and shadow. X-ray photos show that the map on the wall was originally narrower. To improve the composition Vermeer made it wider. He also altered the woman's jacket. Originally it was a wider, fur-trimmed cloak. Vermeer made the jacket simpler and less wide. The woman's back, dark in shadow, stands out sharply against the light wall behind her. The contour of her back is clear and deliberately depicted, while other lines are more fuzzy, such as the illuminated profile of her face.

Every hand painted oil painting in this fine art series is finished on artist-grade canvas and checked against the original before it leaves the studio.

Materials & Craftsmanship

Trained artists work in stages — underpainting, mid-tones, highlights, and detail — using traditional oils on canvas. Because nothing is printed, every hand painted oil painting has its own subtle texture and depth.

What Is Included

• A true oil-on-canvas painting produced manually by our artists — not a mass-produced print.
• Comes with a 2-inch unpainted margin on every side, ready for stretcher bars or a frame.
• Sold studio-direct and shipped worldwide, with no intermediary markup.
• Available canvas sizes for this hand painted oil painting: 20 X 24 in, 24 X 36 in, 30 X 40 in, 36 X 48 in, 48 X 72 in.
• Custom sizes available: order this painting in your preferred dimensions.
• Flexible shipping through DHL, UPS, FedEx, USPS and partner networks.
• Free professional stretching on wooden stretcher bars — contact us for framing options.
• A digital photo of your finished painting is emailed for approval before shipment.

Wall Decor & Gifting

For entryway wall decor that does not feel generic, a painted fine art canvas is hard to beat. It is a popular fine art oil painting pick for new homeowners and a durable alternative to seasonal poster art.

Ordering & Peace of Mind

In short: Woman in Blue Reading a Letter - Johannes Vermeer - Canvas Wall Art combines a classical composition, a 100% hand painted oil painting process, and the flexibility of made-to-order canvas sizes — a dependable choice for fine art oil painting and entryway wall decor.