Young woman playing a guitar

The Guitar Player is one of Vermeer's final artistic activities, providing insight into the techniques he mastered and approaches to painting he favored. The painting remained in Vermeer's possession until his death suggesting that the pieces was personal and not a commissioned piece. The painting has been on display at Kenwood House, London since the 1920s, as part of the Iveagh Bequest collection. After being recovered from a theft in 1974, when the painting was held for ransom, The Guitar Player was returned to Kenwood House.