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| Entrance to the High Museum of Art |
Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis has arrived in Atlanta, and this extraordinary exhibition of Dutch masterpieces opens on June 23. Running until September 29, residents of the Southeast have plenty of time to flock and see the "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and all her friends.
Back in the United States for the first time in 17 years, Johannes Vermeer's iconic "Girl with a Pearl Earring" has never been seen in the Southeast before. And that's not the only iconic piece in the collection; along with four works by Rembrandt, other Dutch artists included in the collection include Carel Fabritius (whose "Goldfinch" is a personal favorite of David Brenneman, the High's Director of Collections and Exhibitions), Jan Steen and Jacob van Ruisdael. The 35 paintings in the exhibit include landscapes and still life works as well as portraiture.
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| Michael Shapiro, director of the High Museum of Art |
We at KNOWAtlanta got a sneak preview of the Mauritshuis collection and got to hear Michael Shapiro, director of the High, about how the museum has been looking forward to this opportunity for more than a decade. This collection makes for, "A truly elegant and perfect installation," he says.
Emilie Gordenker, director of the Mauritshuis, spoke of how this was an ideal time to take the collection on tour, as the Hague is being renovated, saying it was important for these pieces to be on an international stage. "We can dive into these paintings... and find some truth," she says, even with so many decades between now and their creation.
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A wall-sized print of the "Girl with a Pearl
Earring" at the entrance to the exhibit |
What is truly captivating about these pieces is that they are, in a word, relatable—take the famous girl with the pearl, for example. She could be anyone! As told in the fictional novel by Tracy Chevalier and the later-adapted film starring Scarlett Johansson, women in this era did not wear brightly colored, ornate scarves on their heads but rather starched bonnets, and her mystique is what makes the piece such a delight to witness—adding, of course, Vermeer's mastery of light, color and expression.
Drawn from the Mauritshuis collection in the Netherlands,
the exhibition will highlight the artistic genius of Dutch Golden Age painters,
including Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals and Jan Steen through the
presentation of 35 exceptional paintings. The Mauritshuis has never before traveled
such a large amount of important art this far from home.
When visiting the exhibit, you can expect to connect with
timeless and engaging examples of the very best in Dutch art. Winding through
the walls of paintings, you will see how Dutch artists more readily embraced
genre paintings of secular objects and focused on capturing commonplace scenes
of daily life.
Museum Events and Programs:
During this exhibition (June 23-September 29), make sure to visit the High and see the "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and all the wonderful Dutch works in the collection. Here are some events and programs to further enhance your experience with these masterpieces.
Emilie Gordenker, Director of the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in The Hague, the Netherlands, will share stories on the history of the Mauritshuis collection. In addition to discussing the magnificent 17th-century city palace that houses the renowned Dutch and Flemish masterpieces, she will also touch on the Mauritshuis' plans for the future.
Join us this summer for Peter Webber's 2003 film, Girl with a Pearl Earring, starring Colin Firth as Johannes Vermeer and Scarlett Johansson as the peasant maid who becomes his most gifted assistant and the model for his most revered work. A fiction film of painterly detail and exquisite style, Girl with a Pearl Earring builds a story of intrigue behind the mysterious masterpiece and captures our hearts and imaginations along the way.
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 95 minutes
Join David Brenneman, Director of Collections and Exhibitions and the Frances B. Bunzl Family Curator of European Art, and Petria Noble, Head of Paintings Conservation at the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, for an illuminating discussion about art conservation, new advances in restoration techniques and the masterpieces currently on view in Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis.
