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How many paintings by Johannes Vermeer are known to survive?
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Johannes Vermeer
Girl with a Pearl Earring, oil on canvas by Johannes Vermeer, c. 1665; in the Mauritshuis, The Hague.
It is estimated that approximately 36 paintings by Johannes Vermeer survive today.12
Because his total creative output was small and his works were primarily held by local patrons during his lifetime, his surviving oeuvre is remarkably limited. This scarcity, combined with his enduring reputation, has made his authentic works highly sought after by museums and collectors worldwide. The rarity of his paintings also historically invited the production of forgeries, most notably those created by Han van Meegeren in the 1930s, which were sometimes mistakenly attributed to Vermeer by scholars.314