How far would you go for Vermeer?
Vermeer exhibition in Amsterdam is sold out. What makes the enigmatic 17th century Dutch artist so popular? And why is it ok if you haven’t got the ticket?
Installation exhibition Vermeer. Photo Rijksmuseum/Kelly Schenk. Details of the painting: The Milkmaid, Johannes Vermeer, 1658-59, oil on canvas. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt
Vermeer was not always famous. He was reasonably known, locally, during his lifetime but still died leaving many children and large debts for his wife to sort out. Then, 200 years later, his style and revolutionary techniques suddenly chimed with 19th century artists’ sensibilities. He was rediscovered and, now, his popularity has grown to such an incredible extent that Rijksmuseum’s new Vermeer exhibition sold all of half a million tickets within 2 days of it opening.
His known works number 37 or so – small enough for them to be considered rarities, but large enough to reside in many of the Western world’s most prestigious museums. Crucially, it allows for Pokémon-style collecting games, where fans endeavour to see each one. The Rijksmuseum has managed to bring 28 Vermeer paintings together – the largest number ever.
For those who cannot visit the exhibition, the Museum has created an online experience – Closer to Johannes Vermeer. Each known or attributed painting is included with detailed photographs and curious insights. You can discover them yourself, or with the help of Stephen Fry, who narrates the experience, accompanied by immersive location sounds. As if Vermeer needed any help in that respect. While there are no naked breasts in sight, there are quite a few moist parted lips, pearl earrings and side glances.
Vermeer exhibition. Photo Rijksmuseum/ Henk Wildschut. Details of the painting: Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1664–67, oil on canvas. Mauritshuis, The Hague. Bequest of Arnoldus Andries des Tombe, The Hague
What is it that makes exhibitions sell out? (And leaves those who didn’t get a ticket obsessed). I had only a passing interest in Vermeer until a month ago – when exhibition opened. I have seen several of his works in different museums. I watched the film Girl with a Pearl Earring. I’m a subscriber to @mygirlwithapearl - an Instagram account curated by the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, where Vermeer’s most famous painting resides. The account collects numerous versions of the Girl – from tattoos to ducks in scarves, to rice lunches. I knew that he was important, but once I found out I couldn’t get into the new exhibition, I became positively fixated.
Then, to my surprise (and slight embarrassment) I discovered that I live within walking distance of a Vermeer! And that The Guitar Player of Kenwood House in North London wasn’t loaned to the Rijksmuseum. So I ran there to see it. Much less hassle than travelling to Amsterdam. Entry is free, staff are knowledgeable and helpful, crowds are non-existent – even on a Saturday afternoon. Even better, there is a Rembrandt, a Frans Hals and a Van Dyck in the same room. They are all part of the Iveagh Bequest – an exceptional collection of Old Master paintings now belonging to English Heritage.
Johannes Vermeer, The Guitar Player, c. 1672, oil on canvas, Kenwood House, the Iveagh Bequest, English Heritage
The Guitar Player was one of Vermeer’s last works and still in the family’s house when Vermeer died. His wife had to part with it to cover some of the debts. They had 14 children, and although he was known locally, Vermeer only painted around 2 paintings a year (that we know of).
The work brings a lot of familiar elements together and yet, like the rest of Vermeer’s oeuvre, remains totally unique. There is the yellow jacket (that appears in five other works), the famous pearls, the light streaming through a side window, the girl, the music. However, it is one of the rare ones where the light comes from the right, not left. She is his only sitter playing a guitar – a newly fashionable instrument then.
Vermeer exhibition. Photo Rijksmuseum/ Henk Wildschut. Details of the painting: Mistress and Maid, Johannes Vermeer, c. 1665-67, oil on canvas. The Frick Collection, New York.
The composition is heavily unbalanced – the action is taking place almost entirely on the left of the canvas, so much so that the girl’s right elbow is cut off by the frame. Yet it is also perfectly balanced – there is a straight harmonising line that can be drawn between the tree trunk in the painting on the wall, the girl’s right eye and nose, and the guitar’s ornate centre. Vermeer seems to have given less attention to detail – the string of pearls is a curved grey line with white highlights. But then the guitar strings are shown vibrating.
The story is familiar – Vermeer (or his clients?) liked a mysterious bit of romance. Some flirtation is suggested by the girl’s side look, we don’t know with whom. The artist is known for stillness, silence, and contemplation. There is a meditative quietness to his works. They were depictions of fantasies far removed from his own daily experience in a household full of children.
Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, Johannes Vermeer, 1657-58, oil on canvas. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden
The Guitar Player, though, is not still. There is movement all over the place. There is the half-turn – face turned one way, legs the other. In addition to the guitar strings vibrating, the whole instrument seems in a jazzy movement thanks to the carefully rendered black and white decorative rim. The girl’s fingers are captured in a playing position. Her whole expression is lively, with sparkling eyes, rosy cheeks, and bouncy curls. The legs seem in mid turn too, suggested by the carefully rendered pleats of the glossy fabric of her skirt.
Who was this vivacious girl? As with all of Vermeer’s girls: we don’t know. The model could have been one of his daughters. But she is not playing herself. She is a character. A very wealthy one – in a fur-trimmed coat, with pearls around her neck. Considering the family’s financial situation, the fur was more likely cat than ermine, and pearls – an imitation. The girl in the painting is educated – she reads, judging from the books in the corner, she appreciates art and music. Was she, dare I say it, a modern young woman?
What was it that made Vermeer so relevant again in the 19th century? The answer may become apparent if you look closely at this painting. From afar it seems deceptively detailed – in line with what would be expected of 17th century art. However, the gilt frame of the painting within the painting, the string of pearls, the guitar’s carved sound hole, even the skirt pleats – they are all just suggestions of a shape – impressions of light reflecting from the surfaces. Does it remind you of anything or anyone? How about the Impressionists – those art revolutionaries of the late 19th century? Their goal was to capture the light – exactly what Vermeer was doing with these details 200 year prior.
Vermeer exhibition. Photo Rijksmuseum/ Henk Wildschut. Details of the paintings: A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, Johannes Vermeer, 1670–72, oil on canvas. The National Gallery, London; A Young Woman seated at a Virginal, Johannes Vermeer, 1670-75, oil on canvas. The National Gallery, London.
And it is this unusual ability to capture light that makes Vermeer a Vermeer. Nowhere more so that on empty walls – another of the artist’s specialities. Do you see that white wall behind the girl, that makes her stand out? Well, it oh-so subtly changes from shade to light all along the background. And nowhere on that journey it is white.
I have satisfied my Vermeer obsession. For now. Or have I? In my search for the elusive tickets to the exhibition at Rijksmuseum I registered on, gasp, a ticket swapping app. There are currently over 10,000 people wanting the Vermeer tickets and over a 1000 have been sold on the platform. I get endless pings, but my fingers aren’t fast enough to secure the ticket. And do I really want to see the exhibition that much? I am logging off.
Girl with a Pearl Earring is heading back home at the end of March. The rest will follow suit in June. If you are in London, look out for the two returning to the National Gallery and another one that hasn’t left the Buckingham Palace, which can be seen from July to September every year. For me those are just a tube journey away. For those in Amsterdam, The Hague, Dresden, Berlin, Braunschweig, Frankfurt am Main, Vienna, Paris, Edinburgh, Dublin, Washington, Boston, New York, and Tokyo – it would take a skip and a hop. How far would you travel to see a Vermeer?