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Shocking discovery for art lovers: Vermeer's famous painting "Girl with the Flute" is not actually his

2022-10-11 09:52:36Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Shocking discovery for art lovers: Vermeer's famous painting "Girl

A work at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, once thought to have been painted by Johannes Vermeer is now considered a misattribution or fake, according to research revealed in a new exhibition.

A new investigation shows that "Girl with a Flute" is not by the hand of the Dutch master, although it was probably made in his studio. The painting was donated as a Vermeer in 1942.

This finding comes after a detailed study of six paintings in Washington that at various times have been considered Vermeer's. Three have now been confirmed as fully authentic: "Woman Holding a Balance," circa 1664, "A Lady Writing," circa 1665, and "Girl in a Red Hat," circa 1669. Two others have long been seen as forgeries, made to deceive. "Girl with Flute" is now considered a studio work.

All the works are now on display, accompanied by the results of recent scientific examinations, as part of "Vermeer's Secrets", which will remain at the National Gallery of Art until January 8, 2023.
The show offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the curators , Washington conservators and scholars investigated the six paintings to understand “what makes a Vermeer a Vermeer,” according to a press release.

Their discoveries will have a much wider impact on Vermeer scholarship, as the results call into question some long-held assumptions about the master's work. As the text of the exhibition describes: "Beneath these smooth surfaces, another image emerges: of an impetuous, even impatient, artist."

Until now, Vermeer has been seen as a solitary genius. There is no known documentary evidence that he ran a studio or had assistants. This led to the assumption that he worked alone, carefully completing his life's work of only about 35 works.

But the interdisciplinary investigation of Girl with Flute concludes that the artist probably ran a studio in Delft, at least in his later years (the picture now dates from around 1669 until his death in 1675). According to the exhibition's research, the painting was likely misused in the 20th century.

A mysterious creator
Who was the artist behind "Girl with Flute"? It was most likely an apprentice or paid assistant, although Marjorie Wieseman, the gallery's head of Northern European paintings, believes it may have been a member of the artist's family, she told The Art Newspaper. If so, it would probably have been his eldest daughter, Mary, who was born around 1654 and would have been between the ages of 15 and 21 when the painting was completed.

Stylistically, "Girl with a Flute" lacks the quality and precision of Vermeer's paintings, which in recent decades has led a number of specialists to reject the work. But other leading curators accepted it, including the late Walter Liedtke of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Arthur Wheelock, himself a former curator of the National Gallery of Art, initially rejected the painting, but a few years ago he changed his mind, accepting it.

Wieseman and her colleagues believe the painting was made by someone who understood Vermeer's materials and work process but was unable to master them. Examination revealed that the pigments in the upper layers of the paint had been coarsely ground, giving the surface a granular character. Vermeer, however, used thick paint for the lower layers, but finely ground pigments for the upper layers to achieve a delicate surface. Inexplicably, the "Flute Girl" artist blundered and did the opposite.

The researchers also noted that Vermeer tended to create subtle shades of green by sensitively modulating the colors and carefully blending the edges of the paint. But in Girl with the Flute, the shadows were applied much more, creating a smudged look under the woman's nose and along the jawline.


However, there are also similarities in technique and pigments, which strongly suggest that the painting was done by someone familiar with Vermeer's working method. Wieseman told The Art Newspaper that "Girl with a Flute" was clearly influenced by another authentic Vermeer: ​​"Girl with a Red Hat" (or another lost painting with a similar composition). However, Vermeer "did not play a direct role" in conceiving the flute figure, she said.

The women in the two paintings certainly look similar and it is likely that they were based on the same model. The figures in both The Girl with the Flute and The Girl in the Red Hat share long, thin faces, dark brown eyes, focused gazes, and slightly parted lips. The woman's identity remains a mystery.

Additional discoveries
The "Girl with a red hat", which is also in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, has been subjected to a detailed investigation. The attribution to Vermeer was fully confirmed, but here too there was a surprise – this time about style and date.

The vivid colors of "The Girl in the Red Hat" and the bold way of applying the paint led the team of analysts and researchers in Washington, DC, to conclude that it was done during the last phase of Vermeer's career. It is now dated around 1669, six years before the artist's death, instead of the earlier date of 1666-67.

The Girl in the Red Hat was produced at a turning point in Vermeer's career, when he was experimenting with new techniques. He began working with broad strokes, creating a basis for his signature smooth surface paint, according to the exhibit.

Scientific examinations also confirm that "The Girl in the Red Hat" was painted on top of a partially completed portrait of a man. The original photo depicted a man in a black wide-brimmed hat, long hair, a white collar, and a yellow cloak. This was standard clothing for the mid-17th century, giving few clues to his occupation — so it will be a challenge to identify him, Wieseman noted.

Treasures and forgeries
The National Gallery of Art's two largest Vermeers were also thoroughly investigated in preparation for the exhibition. "Woman Holding a Balance" began with the composition sketched in monochromatic paint, quickly applied with broad brushstrokes, according to findings. Then the paint of the finely worked surface was treated differently.
"A Lady Writing" reveals the extent of Vermeer's perfectionism. For example, he used four different yellow pigments on the woman's jacket sleeve. He also adjusted the compositional details: the angle of the pen became slightly more vertical, to suggest active writing.

The exhibition also includes two 20th-century forgeries, The Lacemaker and The Smiling Girl, both of which were attributed to Vermeer when they entered the gallery's collection in 1937 as part of the politician and art collector's bequest American Andrew Mellon.

When the two pictures first appeared in the mid-1920s, they caused a sensation, as this was the period after the artist had been rediscovered and hailed as a genius. Confused by "Vermeer fever", art historians and dealers were uncritical in accepting the discoveries, as the exhibition explains.

It is now believed that the forger of both works was Theodorus van Wijngaarden, a Dutch restorer later known to have bought old paintings cheaply and "enhanced" them for resale. He was also an associate of the infamous Vermeer forger, Han van Meegeren.

Following the National Gallery of Art's research project, the three authentic Vermeers and the Girl with the Flute are expected to go into a major retrospective at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which is being billed as the biggest Vermeer show ever.

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