Go behind the scenes of the world’s largest and the most successful Vermeer exhibition at Rijksmuseum which features 28 paintings by Johannes Vermeer, including Girl with a Pearl Earring. A film by Suzanne Raes.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is working on the largest Vermeer exhibition ever. Currently there are only 37 authenticated paintings by this enigmatic artists. Johannes Vermeer (1632 – 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter. It is believed Vermeer produced a total of fewer than 50 paintings in his lifetime.

Een tentoonstelling is goed als die jou een beetie meeneemt. Dat je daarna ook nog anders kijkt. Dus jouw blik op de wereld verandert doordat jeer zo bent ingedoken in deze andere wereld. Dus dan zweef je zo’n beetje in deze wereld en bij Vermeer gaat dat ontzettend goed.

Allegorie op de schilderkunst / The Allegory of Painting / The Art of Painting / Painter in his Studio

As an artist, he is a master for his use of light and very expensive pigments. He’s considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. But as as a man, Johannes Vermeer is very much still a mystery. Unlike Rembrandt who has at least 80 self-portraits, we only have Vermeer’s back in “Allegorie op de schilderkunst”. No letters or diaries written by Vermeer has been discovered, we don’t even know what he looked like. What we know so far is he lived in Delft (A city in the province of South Holland, Netherlands), he had 14 children and he died at the age of 43. We don’t know where he learned to paint, or who taught him. All we have are his paintings.

Zittende virginaalspeelster / Lady Seated at a Virginal / Young Woman Seated at a Virginal

Most artists use black pigments to paint shadows, but Vermeer uses color in the shadows. Vermeer knows that warm yellow light has cold blue shadows.

A good exhibition should sweep you away. It should change the way you look. Your view of the world changes, as you’re drawn to the other world, and you’re almost floating.

Researchers, conservators, painters, experts are all fascinated by Vermeer’s work. They try to understand how he was able to paint these wonderful pictures. Since the rediscovery of his paintings in 1860, merely two centuries after his death, people from other countries started collecting Vermeers. His paintings found their ways into the hand of collectors in France, Germany, England and USA. (The USA alone has 14 Vermeers; 5 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 4 at the National Gallery of Art, 3 at the Frick Collection, 1 at The Leiden Collection, and 1 at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum)

Onderbreking van de muziek / Girl Interrupted at Her Music

Over the years, researchers and scholars have made many discoveries about Vermeers such as the birdcage on the top left corner of “Onderbreking van de muziek” was painted over by someone else, or the background color of Meisje met de parel (Girl with a Pearl Earring), his most famous painting is actually green.

Meisje met de parel / Girl With A Pearl Earring

Art historians and experts believe Johannes Vermeer used some kind of camera obscura to aid his process. But he didn’t just paint things exactly as he saw, he simply used it as base to construct his unique style of reality by adding elements with incredible details like he was creating a mini world in a corner of a room.

De Kantwerkster / The Lacemaker

Vermeer often painted on much smaller canvas comparing to other artists, which makes us wonder why he put so much time, efforts and skill into a painting that wouldn’t make him a lot of money. “De Kantwerkster,” one of his masterpieces is an oil painting on 24.5 × 21 cm canvas.

Study of a Young Woman / Portrait of a Young Woman / Girl with a Veil & Vrouw met waterkan / Young Woman with a Water Pitcher

Although, not everything is going according to their plan. Rijksmuseum is unable to acquire 3 of Vermeers from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Study of a Young Woman,” donated by Charles Wrightsman & Jayne Wrightsman in 1979 came with the restriction that none of the paintings they gave to the museum can ever travel. “Vrouw met waterkan” (Young Woman with a Water Pitcher) is very fragile, so it’s very unlikely to leave the museum. “Slapend meisje” (A Maid Asleep) cannot be lent, by terms of its acquisition.

The Allegory of Faith / Allegory of the Catholic Faith

Vermeer exhibition became Rijksmuseum’s most successful exhibition, with 650,000 visitors from 113 countries during its 16-week run, from 10 February – 4 June 2023. Massive public interest resulted in tickets selling out within days of its opening in February. The exhibition featured 28 paintings by Johannes Vermeer, including famous masterpieces such as “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and “The Milkmaid”.

DICHT BIJ VERMEER was theatrically released in Netherlands on 9 March 2023. CLOSE TO VERMEER had its limited release in USA on 26 May.