It seems that this year, after all, has been the year of commemoration and monographic exhibitions. After the pandemic, it is precisely the ones that never seem to be organized by the major museums to avoid the excited crowds at the doors and in their rooms. However, there is nothing to justify the centennial of the birth or death of one of those great artists in Art History, or a retrospective, gathering all their productions under one roof and serving as a claim and an advertisement.
This is the case with the exhibition dedicated to Johannes Vermeer of Delft, which opened Friday at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. An artist who is curious among the great Baroque painters of Europe, partly due to his limited production, has 36 works, 28 of which are to be exhibited in the Dutch museum until 4 June. The theme he deals with in his works is not new. The Flemish and Dutch interiors of the 17th century were common among the artists of this school, where the serenity typical of spaces dominated by femininity and colored by a hazy light typical of Scandinavian countries. So why this admiration for Vermeer?
The explanation is twofold, first, the apparent simplicity of composition of his scenes and the harmony of the chosen tones of blue, yellow and white; and second, the possible use of a mechanical device as a tool for making pictures, the camera obscura, the precedent of the photographic cameras of the 19th century. This hypothesis has been highly controversial. From those who saw Vermeer as an innovative artist who was extremely aware of scientific and technical developments in optics in the 17th century, to those who accused him of fraud when he used mechanical means to capture his authenticity. immortalize in his works. . Regardless of Vermeer’s resources, his paintings manage to convey the emotion of a moment. That moment was captured when the contemporary audience had the privilege of watching. It’s like an intruder who peeks through the half-open door and discovers an intimate, everyday and peaceful reality that he wants to join, not escape. Vermeer knew how to convey the calm and serenity of simple things in a mystical union with the observer, so the viewer misses this encounter with his work.
When all these elements are put on the table, it is easy to understand how overwhelming an exhibition of Delft painter’s work can be. The Rijksmuseum has been experiencing this since the days before opening. The website crashes, the number of tickets sold far exceeds estimates, and the expectation is that online searches for the artist have multiplied exponentially.
If you haven’t been able to get a ticket, don’t despair, fortunately we always have the Essential Vermeer portal (http://www.essentialvermeer.com/) where we can continue to enjoy his works from our seat. a dedicated audience to get as close to the works as possible and relive the scenes before the Mona Lisa at the Louvre; or enjoy our local time master Velázquez, whose Meninas waiting for us at the Prado have the same charm and magic of the moment stolen from time as the young women of Veermer.