Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Hals: | Dutch Paintings | from the Mauritshuis

Tue, Oct 22 - Sun, Jan 19  2014

A stunningly beautiful Dutch girl whom many men had a crush on for years has finally come back to New York. It’s nearly 30 years since Johannes Vermeer’s ‘Girl With A Pearl Earring’ was last shown in the Big Apple, and now it is on display again at the Frick Collection as part of the special exhibition ‘Vermeer, Rembrandt and Hals: Masterpieces of Dutch Painting from the Mauritshuis’. The Frick is giving visitors a chance to experience the engaging over-the-shoulder glance of the girl, melting even the chilliest of hearts.

Her portrait, one of the world’s most famous paintings, will be joined by 14 more works by the 17th-century Dutch masters Vermeer, Rembrandt and Hals. All are on loan from the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in The Hague, which is undergoing renovations.  “They are the artists that today’s artists aspire to be,” Dutch Ambassador Rudolf Simon Bekink said at the exhibitions’ press conference. ”In many ways, the Dutch masters were at the cutting edge of their field in technological advancement, a tradition I’m happy to say we Dutch are continuing in the fields of photography, design, and architecture.” Emilie Gordenker, Director of the Mauritshuis, comments, “We are delighted to have this excellent museum as partner in New Amsterdam, or New York, as you like to call it.”

Johannes Vermeer’s enigmatic Girl with a Pearl Earring has intrigued art lovers for centuries. The mystery surrounding the identity of the girl with the translucent skin and inexplicable gaze has contributed to the painting’s fame, which has been increased by author Tracy Chevalier’s 1999 book of the same name. The novel, later adapted to a film starring Scarlett Johannson as the girl, is a fictional story about the painter and his model.

Besides a pair of portraits by Hals and two biblical scenes and two portraits by Rembrandt, the exhibition includes a picture of drunken revelry by Jan Steen; a small painting of a goldfinch by Carel Fabritius that is a miracle of trompe l’oeil illusion; and “View of Haarlem With Bleaching Grounds,” an spacious landscape by Jacob van Ruisdael. 

The Frick Collection will be the final venue of an American tour of paintings from the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague. The selection of fifteen masterpieces will be on view through January 19, 2014.

Entrance to the special exhibition is included with paid museum admission. However, timed tickets are required, and purchasing them in advance is strongly advised. Tickets may be purchased at the museum’s admissions desk during regular hours, from Telecharge online, or by calling 212-239-6200.

The Frick collection organizes several events concerning the exhibition:

Wednesday, December 4, 6.00 pm: Lecture ‘The Making of an Icon: How the Girl with a Pearl Earring Gained its Fame,’ by Arthur Wheelock, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Monday, January 13, 3.00 pm: Seminar ‘In Context: Girl with a Pearl Earring,’ led by Walter A. Liedtke, Curator of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

For tickets and more information on the lectures and seminars please visit thefrick.org