CLICK HERE  to access high resolution image

The Rijksmuseum has updated their hi-res image of the Woman in Blue Reading a Letter after its recent restoration. At first sight it looks a bit disjointed as pictures always do after restoration. The whole much cooler in hue now the long winding scarf-like piece of cloth on the table, once fairly muddled, can be made out a bit better recalling a similar scarf-like object that drapes down in the Art of Painting. The figure has gained much force and now stands out of the picture more than it did before the dark, yellow varnish was removed. The painting now appears to have greater spatial resonance and sense of volume.

Some color can be made out in the map as well as a few topographical features which had been overpainted. A row of discreet brass buttons with tiny highlights now run along the side of the foreground chair which had been completely obscured by retouches.

Vermeer’s Women: Secrets and Silence
October 5, 2011 – January 15, 2012
The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

from the museum website:
At the heart of this visually stunning exhibition is Vermeer’s extraordinary painting The Lacemaker (c.1669-70) – one of the Musée du Louvre’s most famous works, rarely seen outside Paris and now on loan to the UK for the first time. The painting will be joined by a choice selection of other key works by Vermeer representing the pinnacle of his mature career, and over thirty other masterpieces of genre painting from the Dutch “Golden Age.” Featuring works from museums and private collections in the UK, Europe and the USA – many of which have never been on public display in Britain – this Cambridge showing will be the only chance to see these masterworks brought together in one location.

http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/whatson/exhibitions/article.html?2793

The four Vermeer paintings of the exhibiton are:  The Music Lesson,  A Lady Seated at the Virginal, The Lacemaker and Young Woman Seated at a Virginal(private collection, New York).

http://www.suebond.co.uk/events/release.php?eventid=477&preview=

During the planned restoration of the Kenwood House in 2012, Vermeer’s Guitar Player will be displayed publically in another art gallery. The exact dates and location of the picture will be announced in early 2012.

The Japanese exhibition, Communication: Visualizing Human Connection in the Age of Vermeer (curated by Arthur Wheelock) will feature three excellent Vermeers: Woman in Blue Reading a Letter (Rijksmuseum), A Ladt Writing (National Gallery of Art)   and Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid (National Gallery of Ireland)  plus over forty other paintings. All three Vermeer’s will travel to all three venues, Kyoto, Tokyo and Sendai.  There will also be an English edition catalogue (Human Connections in the Age of Vermeer) published by Scala in addition to the Japanese language catalogue.
first venue:
Kyoto Municipal Museum, Kyoto
June 25 – October 16, 2011

second venue:
Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo
December 23, 2001 – March 14, 2012

to be announced:
The Miyagi Museum of Art
34-1 Kawauchi-Motohasekura, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi

http://www.essentialvermeer.com/misc/VermeerAnalysis.pdf

Google Art: Although the scans of the single paintings are admirable and perhaps even useful, the museum tours leave much, too much to desire. The Frick is especially low quality and captures literally nothing of atmosphere that makes this museum unique.  I suppose it’s all done efficiently as possible, but still, one could reasonably expect more from Google. Wheeling around a hi-tech camera cart up and down the halls does not guarantee results no matter how much the devise costs and even if your name is Google. Technology must be used sensibly or otherwise we just get just one more silly toy.  D- for effort, there are other realities outside Silicon Valley.

The Golden Age of Dutch Painting, Masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum
11 March – 6 June, 2011
Museum of Islamic Art, Doha

Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, presents The Golden Age of Dutch Painting, Masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum, the first major exhibition of Dutch art in the Gulf region. It will take place in the temporary exhibition hall at the Museum of Islamic Art from 11 March – 6 June, 2011.

Forty-four paintings, among the best in the Rijksmuseum’s collection are being loaned to QMA. These paintings give a wide-ranging view of the artists, lifestyle and topography of Holland in the seventeenth century. Included are works of Rembrandt and Vermeer (The Love Letter ).

<http://www.qma.com.qa/eng/index.php/qma/news_item/169>

Google has recently added some extremely detailed (and nuanced) digital images of Vermeer’s works in their googleartproject Google Art Project collection. So far, I have discovered these… Enjoy please.

The Love Letter
http://www.googleartproject.com/museums/rijks/the-love-letter-44

The Little Street
http://www.googleartproject.com/museums/rijks/view-of-houses-in-delft-known-as-the-little-street-46

The Milkmaid
http://www.googleartproject.com/museums/rijks/the-milkmaid-48

Woman with a Pearl Necklace
http://www.googleartproject.com/museums/gemaldegalerie/young-woman-with-a-pearl-necklace-98

Officer and Laughing Girl
http://www.googleartproject.com/museums/frick/officer-and-laughing-girl-6

The Glass of Wine
http://www.googleartproject.com/museums/gemaldegalerie/the-glass-of-wine-100

Vermeer’s miniscule Young Woman Seated at a Virginal will be temporarily exhibited at it Chrysler Museum of Art, in Norfolk, Virginia from 1 June 2010 – 1 September 2010. News on programming related to the work will be reported here as they become available.

In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, two men dressed as Boston police officers talked their way into the Gardner museum, bound two guards, and stole artwork valued at $500 million, including three Rembrandts,  Vermeer’s  Concert and five sketches by Degas.

The identity of the thieves and the whereabouts of the artwork remain a mystery. Two decades after a pair of thieves dressed as Boston police officers pulled off  the biggest art heist in history, the FBI is trying to stir up new leads with two billboards on Boston-area freeways that promise a $5 million reward.

The FBI has also resubmitted DNA samples for updated testing, the Associated Press reports.

The Gardner museum is offering the $5 million reward.

Gail Marcinkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Boston, said Clear Channel Outdoor  began running an FBI poster yesterday on two of its digital http://www.gardnermuseum.org/information/theft.asp for more information. The billboards are on I-93 in Stoneham and I-495 in Lawrence.

He said the FBI poster seeking information on the Gardner theft will probably remain on the billboards for at least four weeks. He estimated that 117,000 people pass by the Stoneham billboard and about 81,000 pass by the one in Lawrence daily.