Actually, you're comments are disturbing...clearly NOT a Vermeer fan, why trash the exhibit? Maybe your understanding of 17th century Dutch art needs re-examination.
Thanks for this Surekha - it certainly suggests a disconnect between the need to monetise art around a singular figure and the complexity of its production. There was a small Vermeer exhibition (V and the Masters of Genre) in 2017 which placed his work amongst that of his contemporaries, showing how importance genre was in his paintings. Fascinated by the Mostaert paintings but worth noting too that this exhibition is also on https://www.rijksmuseumtwenthe.nl/rubriek/3433/en/sofonisba-anguissola
What a disturbing and, frankly, dismissive essay of sorts. Your sense of esthetic superiority is odious. Why write about something or someone who clearly bores you? Most of us would do anything to get to experience the Vermeer exhibit. You deigned to do us a favor and go in our stead. How about finding something you like and adding some positivity to the world?
Thank you for your candid and enlightening report on the Vermeer exhibition. Your description of the experience confirmed what I imagined it might be - crowds, shuffling, hype, disappointment - and has relieved me of the Fear Of Missing Out that up until your post, had lingered in my mind.
Your comment about the benefits of enjoying the paintings where they reside in the permanent collections of their owners is one I appreciated. I'm fortunate to be able to visit the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC and enjoy "Woman holding a balance" and "A Lady Writing" in the relatively quiet gallery in which they usually hang. Thanks again for sharing your museum visit!
The highbrow snobbery of your critique of the Vermeer show is truly nauseating, and please no more 60 word run-on sentences. You should have stayed home and kept you overly scholarly comments to yourself.
I happened to be visiting my sister in Holland when the exhibition first opened and I was lucky enough to be able to book tickets. I went with my nephew and daughter. We all thoroughly enjoyed the paintings, the setting, the explanations, the commentary on the website, the whole thing -even my 7yo daughter. In my opinion it was extremely well-curated. All my other relatives and friends who saw it also thoroughly enjoyed it. I want to say a huge thank you to the Rijksmuseum for making it happen.
I'm glad I didn't read your critique before I went. It might have put me off booking tickets. As it was, this will stand out as one of the most enjoyable experiences of art in my life.
I also went to the regular permanent exhibits but the Vermeer stands out for me.
And now we have the hot take of a philistine. Can not believe that someone would dismiss early Vermeer with the willful ignorance of Beevis and Butthead
I was really impressed by this review, by noting how the individual genius is a myth, and work has to be placed within a social context. It made me feel less lonely, to note that I have always had found Vermeer over determined, and not as interesting, as other dutch painters of the time--I wonder an essay about light, and about the interior/exterior in Vermeer compared to people like Pieter Saenredam or Metsu... (i am sorry that you getting the comments here which preclude careful looking, difficult nuance, and ambvilance as a a way of looking, and assumption that this kind of reading should be automatically placed in a binary--a pan or a rave and nothing in b/w
I completely disagree about the Vermeer show. I thought it was great. Although being from California any old master like Vermeer is greatly appreciated as we don’t have many or any at all available to see in museums nearby. My friend and I went at night, we came earlier than we were supposed too, and it was not crowded at all. I do admit there were a lot of people taking selfies in front of the painting “The Girl with the Pearl Earring”. That was annoying and a direct correlation between the movie and the selfies.
I just saw the Vermeer exhibit earlier last week and went to the Van Gogh Museum two days later. While the Vermeer exhibit gave me a glimpse into Dutch upper middle class domesticity and how Vermeer's art world worked, I found myself more engaged in the Van Gogh exhibits. The Van Gogh Museum was more successful in walking me through Van Gogh's journey as a painter and a person - showing the progression of his technique, looking into his psyche, and the surveying the influences of his family, friends, and artist contemporaries.
The Mostaert painting seems to be considered the earliest European painted portrait of a man of African descent, but the Rijksmuseum previously showed it alongside an earlier sketched portrait by Dürer: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/sep/28/earliest-european-portraits-of-african-men-on-show-together-for-first-time-durer-mostaert-rijksmuseum-amsterdam. Dürer also sketched an African woman during his visit to the Low Countries in 1520-1521: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer_-_The_Negress_Katherina_-_WGA07097.jpg. I hear you on the peculiarities of jam-packed crowds trying to appreciate rather small domestic-themed works of art, though!
Actually, you're comments are disturbing...clearly NOT a Vermeer fan, why trash the exhibit? Maybe your understanding of 17th century Dutch art needs re-examination.
Thanks for this Surekha - it certainly suggests a disconnect between the need to monetise art around a singular figure and the complexity of its production. There was a small Vermeer exhibition (V and the Masters of Genre) in 2017 which placed his work amongst that of his contemporaries, showing how importance genre was in his paintings. Fascinated by the Mostaert paintings but worth noting too that this exhibition is also on https://www.rijksmuseumtwenthe.nl/rubriek/3433/en/sofonisba-anguissola
I suppose you will come out of museum for dedicated painters like Dali, Picasso, van Gough, etc with the same impression... Lol
What a disturbing and, frankly, dismissive essay of sorts. Your sense of esthetic superiority is odious. Why write about something or someone who clearly bores you? Most of us would do anything to get to experience the Vermeer exhibit. You deigned to do us a favor and go in our stead. How about finding something you like and adding some positivity to the world?
Thank you for your candid and enlightening report on the Vermeer exhibition. Your description of the experience confirmed what I imagined it might be - crowds, shuffling, hype, disappointment - and has relieved me of the Fear Of Missing Out that up until your post, had lingered in my mind.
Your comment about the benefits of enjoying the paintings where they reside in the permanent collections of their owners is one I appreciated. I'm fortunate to be able to visit the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC and enjoy "Woman holding a balance" and "A Lady Writing" in the relatively quiet gallery in which they usually hang. Thanks again for sharing your museum visit!
The highbrow snobbery of your critique of the Vermeer show is truly nauseating, and please no more 60 word run-on sentences. You should have stayed home and kept you overly scholarly comments to yourself.
I happened to be visiting my sister in Holland when the exhibition first opened and I was lucky enough to be able to book tickets. I went with my nephew and daughter. We all thoroughly enjoyed the paintings, the setting, the explanations, the commentary on the website, the whole thing -even my 7yo daughter. In my opinion it was extremely well-curated. All my other relatives and friends who saw it also thoroughly enjoyed it. I want to say a huge thank you to the Rijksmuseum for making it happen.
I'm glad I didn't read your critique before I went. It might have put me off booking tickets. As it was, this will stand out as one of the most enjoyable experiences of art in my life.
I also went to the regular permanent exhibits but the Vermeer stands out for me.
We all have different tastes and opinions.
And now we have the hot take of a philistine. Can not believe that someone would dismiss early Vermeer with the willful ignorance of Beevis and Butthead
I was really impressed by this review, by noting how the individual genius is a myth, and work has to be placed within a social context. It made me feel less lonely, to note that I have always had found Vermeer over determined, and not as interesting, as other dutch painters of the time--I wonder an essay about light, and about the interior/exterior in Vermeer compared to people like Pieter Saenredam or Metsu... (i am sorry that you getting the comments here which preclude careful looking, difficult nuance, and ambvilance as a a way of looking, and assumption that this kind of reading should be automatically placed in a binary--a pan or a rave and nothing in b/w
I completely disagree about the Vermeer show. I thought it was great. Although being from California any old master like Vermeer is greatly appreciated as we don’t have many or any at all available to see in museums nearby. My friend and I went at night, we came earlier than we were supposed too, and it was not crowded at all. I do admit there were a lot of people taking selfies in front of the painting “The Girl with the Pearl Earring”. That was annoying and a direct correlation between the movie and the selfies.
I just saw the Vermeer exhibit earlier last week and went to the Van Gogh Museum two days later. While the Vermeer exhibit gave me a glimpse into Dutch upper middle class domesticity and how Vermeer's art world worked, I found myself more engaged in the Van Gogh exhibits. The Van Gogh Museum was more successful in walking me through Van Gogh's journey as a painter and a person - showing the progression of his technique, looking into his psyche, and the surveying the influences of his family, friends, and artist contemporaries.