The National Gallery of Art Just Discovered That One of Its Four Vermeer Paintings Wasn’t Actually Painted by Vermeer | Artnet News
1. Studio of Johannes Vermeer, Girl With a Flute (c. 1669/1675). National Gallery of Art, Washington, Widener Collection
2. Dina Anchin, associate paintings conservator at the National Gallery of Art, studies a painting.
3. Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance (c. 1664). National Gallery of Art, Washington, Widener Collection
4. An image visualizing characteristics of the underpaint in Johannes Vermeer’s Woman Holding a Balance (c. 1664): a composite image of the color photograph, infrared reflectance image, and chemical element maps for iron and copper. Photo: National Gallery of Art.
5.
Two unconvincing Vermeer forgeries in the National Gallery exhibition. Photo: Kriston Capps.
Scientists and historians at the National Gallery of Art have deduced that a painting attributed to Johannes Vermeer, one of four in the museum’s collection, wasn’t painted by the Dutch master after all.
Girl With a Flute (1665/1675), a small study of a figure holding a recorder, was instead likely made by someone who studied under Vermeer or otherwise worked closely with him. The new findings unlock the intriguing possibility that the Golden Age artist—whose Girl With a Pearl Earring and other masterpieces rank among the most famous paintings in the world—may have had an apprentice.
As to who that figure might be, National Gallery officials can only speculate. There’s no record of any students registered with the local painters guild, no notes about friends or family members taking lessons. Nevertheless, the museum is now saying, with 99 percent confidence, that this particular painting was produced by “school of Vermeer.”
“The idea that Vermeer had a studio is not one that a lot of people have really talked about. Because he’s always been thought of as the lone genius,” said Marjorie E. Wieseman, curator and head of the department of northern European paintings at the National Gallery. “We only know of about three dozen paintings by him. So why would he have needed a studio?” …
… Vermeer also liked to dapple the lips
of his subjects with highlights: tiny dots reflecting a color found
nearby. The artist who made Girl With a Flute
worked closely enough with Vermeer to witness these techniques, but not
to master them. “Rather than having a pink highlight on the lip, she’s
got, you know, an errant piece of spinach in her teeth,” the curator
said.
Girl With a Flute was only ever “cautiously” attributed to Vermeer, according to the museum, so it may not come as a surprise to researchers that it was done by another artist. But the fact that this mystery artist worked alongside Vermeer raises a lot of new questions. While the museum considers this particular case closed, the investigation points to a deeper mystery about how the artist’s studio actually functioned. …
“Vermeer’s Secrets” is on view at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from October 8 through January 8, 2022.