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For a while I worked at Kenwood House in Hampstead, London. Home of Vermeer's The Guitar Player. As you may know, Vermeers are so few and far between that it's

by jmkd 5y ago

For a while I worked at Kenwood House in Hampstead, London. Home of Vermeer's The Guitar Player. As you may know, Vermeers are so few and far between that it's entirely possible to see every one (~36) if you're able to travel the world. So, there exists a subculture of (often) wealthy Vermeer completeists who travel the world doing exactly that. Every month or so at Kenwood, we would be instructed to come in early to host such collectors who had made arrangements for a private viewing of this Vermeer. An entourage would roll up around 6-7am to whisk a high-flyer into the room the Vermeer was displayed. More often than not the individual - who was so determined to see this painting they'd paid English Heritage who knows how much - took a momentary glance and was off again. I'm talking all that trouble for 1-2 minutes in front of the Vermeer so they could check it off their list. And then they were off. I'd happily spend the next 8 hours in front of it observing public responses and daydreaming of how to prevent elaborate art thefts (the painting was stolen by the IRA in 1974 and IMHO could certainly be stolen again).

pradn 5y ago
There's 9 Vermeers just within a few blocks in New York: 4 at the Frick Collection and 5 at the Metropolitan Museum.
- senortumnus 5y ago
  Second this! Go see these Vermeers and then decide if you should follow it up with a trip to the 2023 show!
bschne 5y ago
> As you may know, Vermeers are so few and far between that it's entirely possible to see every one (~36) if you're able to travel the world. As someone has actually done and made a website about: https://jlord.us/vermeer/about.html https://jlord.us/vermeer/about.html
- lisper 5y ago
  According to the movie "Tim's Vermeer", at least one Vermeer (The Music Lesson) is in Buckingham palace and not generally accessible to the public. How do you get to see that one?
  - dorkwood 5y ago
    According to Wikipedia, it's currently on display at the Queen's Gallery, which is open to the public.
  - boppo1 5y ago
    >"Tim's Vermeer" A neat but sorta terrible documentary. The central claim is that Vermeer absolutely must have used a camera lucida because his detail would otherwise be impossible. In particular I remember the 'expert' claiming that a certain smooth gradation was impossible to paint without optical tools. Maybe for a modernist like Hockney, but there are painters with academic training who achieve that kind of work without optical tools. I'm not saying Vermeer didn't experiment with such tools, but the claims to their criticality in his process are a joke.
    - Doxin 5y ago
      Deeply entertaining movie though. I feel like whether or not Vermeer actually used the presented methods isn't really even the point. It's a lovely deep dive on one guys obsession with trying to recreate a Vermeer.
  - oh_sigh 5y ago
    TIL what Michael Fagan was up to.
  - evgen 5y ago
    It is in the Queen's collection but it does go on display. When I was squiring visiting family around the city we decided to do the palace tour and I was pleasantly surprised to turn a corner and see it on display right in front of me. This was only a few months after watching Tim's Vermeer so it was fun having to explain to the people with my why I was so excited to see it on display. If you plan ahead and time your visit right you too can see it in person.
reaperducer 5y ago
I'm talking all that trouble for 1-2 minutes in front of the Vermeer so they could check it off their list. And then they were off. Reminds me of people who (pre-pandemic) would compete for the most country stamps in their passports. They would never see many of the countries they visited, beyond the airport's passport control facility.
- technothrasher 5y ago
  My only check-off for "illegally entering a country" was to stop briefly on a sandbar in absolutely nowhere Angola to have a gin and tonic before rowing back across the river to Namibia.
AnimalMuppet 5y ago
If that was all they were going to do, they could have done it during regular hours...
AlbertCory 5y ago
"completeists" -- This reminds me of Big Year [1], i.e. ridiculous. I've been to a lot of the world's major museums, but I've never been to The Netherlands (or Russia). I really don't get the attraction of a "private viewing." As long as there aren't so many people that someone's always walking in front of me (like at the Uffizi), I'm fine with other tourists there. Once in a great while, someone will say something interesting about it. [1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1053810/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1053810/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
- jmkd 5y ago
  Having worked with countless museums the opportunity of a private viewing - especially with a knowledgable curator - is never to be passed up.
  - AlbertCory 5y ago
    "a knowledgable curator" - that would change my opinion, too.

by jmkd 5y ago

pradn 5y ago

There's 9 Vermeers just within a few blocks in New York: 4 at the Frick Collection and 5 at the Metropolitan Museum.

senortumnus 5y ago
Second this! Go see these Vermeers and then decide if you should follow it up with a trip to the 2023 show!

bschne 5y ago

> As you may know, Vermeers are so few and far between that it's entirely possible to see every one (~36) if you're able to travel the world. As someone has actually done and made a website about: https://jlord.us/vermeer/about.html https://jlord.us/vermeer/about.html

lisper 5y ago
According to the movie "Tim's Vermeer", at least one Vermeer (The Music Lesson) is in Buckingham palace and not generally accessible to the public. How do you get to see that one?
- dorkwood 5y ago
  According to Wikipedia, it's currently on display at the Queen's Gallery, which is open to the public.
- boppo1 5y ago
  >"Tim's Vermeer" A neat but sorta terrible documentary. The central claim is that Vermeer absolutely must have used a camera lucida because his detail would otherwise be impossible. In particular I remember the 'expert' claiming that a certain smooth gradation was impossible to paint without optical tools. Maybe for a modernist like Hockney, but there are painters with academic training who achieve that kind of work without optical tools. I'm not saying Vermeer didn't experiment with such tools, but the claims to their criticality in his process are a joke.
  - Doxin 5y ago
    Deeply entertaining movie though. I feel like whether or not Vermeer actually used the presented methods isn't really even the point. It's a lovely deep dive on one guys obsession with trying to recreate a Vermeer.
- oh_sigh 5y ago
  TIL what Michael Fagan was up to.
- evgen 5y ago
  It is in the Queen's collection but it does go on display. When I was squiring visiting family around the city we decided to do the palace tour and I was pleasantly surprised to turn a corner and see it on display right in front of me. This was only a few months after watching Tim's Vermeer so it was fun having to explain to the people with my why I was so excited to see it on display. If you plan ahead and time your visit right you too can see it in person.

reaperducer 5y ago

I'm talking all that trouble for 1-2 minutes in front of the Vermeer so they could check it off their list. And then they were off. Reminds me of people who (pre-pandemic) would compete for the most country stamps in their passports. They would never see many of the countries they visited, beyond the airport's passport control facility.

technothrasher 5y ago
My only check-off for "illegally entering a country" was to stop briefly on a sandbar in absolutely nowhere Angola to have a gin and tonic before rowing back across the river to Namibia.

AnimalMuppet 5y ago

If that was all they were going to do, they could have done it during regular hours...

AlbertCory 5y ago

"completeists" -- This reminds me of Big Year [1], i.e. ridiculous. I've been to a lot of the world's major museums, but I've never been to The Netherlands (or Russia). I really don't get the attraction of a "private viewing." As long as there aren't so many people that someone's always walking in front of me (like at the Uffizi), I'm fine with other tourists there. Once in a great while, someone will say something interesting about it. [1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1053810/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1053810/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

jmkd 5y ago
Having worked with countless museums the opportunity of a private viewing - especially with a knowledgable curator - is never to be passed up.
- AlbertCory 5y ago
  "a knowledgable curator" - that would change my opinion, too.