Vermeer's Letter (2023) Schilderij door Noël Van Hoof

This year the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam organized a very interesting exhibition, in which 28 of the 37 paintings of Johannes Vermeer were on display (he painted some more, but these works are lost). An almost impossible job, since these exhibited works are normally spread over 14 museums in the world. I had to make some effort to get a ticket, because the ticket service was overloaded all the time. So I tried again and again until in the middle of the night, like a predator seeking its pray. After waiting for hours I had good luck: fortunately there were only a few tickets left for a certain date early in the morning, but for me it felt like winning a prize in a lottery.

Libraries have been written about Vermeer, describing why he was such a great painter. But seeing his works with my own eyes made it extra special, an event I will never forget. It made me quiet, humble, silenced... What can you say after seeing all this beauty? I would like to thank all the museum directors who gave their support to make this project possible. And most of all Taco Dibbits, the director of the Rijksmuseum, who has initiated and finished this mega job. I also want to speak out the hope that Vermeer's work will be accessible for future generations. Vermeer was such a brilliant painter, that I never felt the need trying to paint like him, that would only lead to a disappointment. I made 3 remakes of works I saw at the exhibition, but I did it my way, in my own language. In this series I mainly focused on the movement in the paintings that leads to 1 central point: a letter, a coin and a pair of dividers.

“Vermeer's Letter” is a remake of Vermeer's “The Love Letter”, painted in 1669 or 1670. It's a genre painting in which a servant maid is commenting to her mistress on a letter the woman holds. The painting belongs to the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.

Verwante thema's

Johannes Vermeer