The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. has withdrawn the attribution of one of Vermeer's four paintings
The attribution of one of the four Vermeer paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. has been taken away, museum experts said Friday. This ends a decades-long debate about the painting's author, but it also raises new questions about the Dutch master's life. Girl with a Flute was not painted by Johannes Vermeer, but historians said at a news conference that it was done by someone who had a deep understanding of Vermeer's techniques. This contradicts the idea that Vermeer worked alone.
According to experts, the painting was painted by a friend of Vermeer
The curators, conservators, and scientists who looked at the work with both scientific tools and their own eyes think it was made "by a friend of Vermeer, not by the Dutch artist himself." The museum made the decision the day before a new show called "Vermeer's Secrets" opened. This show shows what has been learned recently about how Vermeer made his paintings. The investigation of Girl With a Flute, which started in 2020, is one of the best parts of the show. During the longest closure in 2020, all four Vermeer paintings were taken to the museum's conservation lab. These paintings are rarely taken out of public view.
The board lacked the accuracy that Vermeer is known for
Experts said that Girl with a Flute is about the same size as Vermeer's Girl with the Red Hat. Both were painted on wood, which was a rare thing for the artist to do. That was the end of any important similarities. The museum said that a microscopic look at Girl With a Flute showed that it didn't have the precision that Vermeer is known for and that the last layer of paint had coarsely ground pigments that didn't match the smooth finish of the 35 paintings known to be by him.
The discovery completely changes knowledge about Vermeer
Who the "associate" who painted Girl With a Flute is still unknown. There is nothing left to show that there was a workshop, and there are no records of students or helpers. The museum said it could have been a freelance painter Vermeer hired for each project or one of the artist's family members. Art historians have generally thought that Vermeer did not have students or assistants because he only made 35 paintings. In a press release, Kaywin Feldman, the director of the National Gallery of Art, said, "The fact that other artists worked with Johannes Vermeer may be one of the most important things we've learned about him in decades." She also said that the discovery "changes the way we think about Vermeer in a fundamental way."
Jean Dubreil
