There is a storm for the Vermeer exhibition in the Rijksmuseum: why is this art so popular? | Interior

‘Temporarily closed’, says the click-through page of the Rijksmuseum where you can buy tickets for the largest exhibition with work by painter Johannes Vermeer once. From Friday, 28 of the 37 ‘Vermeers’ can be seen in Amsterdam. It was previously impossible to admire so much of his work in one fell swoop.

“His work comes from the 17th century, but somehow it feels timeless,” Abbie Vandivere, restorer at the Mauritshuis, answers when asked what can explain the run on tickets. She believes this is because the actions that the people in the paintings perform are ‘small’. “It feels like they’re taking a long time, and that’s where you come in. Take the Milkmaid, who pours milk. Such an action always takes a while. You can almost stand in the place of the person in the painting. Like you’re there.”

Three works that can normally be seen in the Mauritshuis, including the well-known Girl with a pearl earring, will be staying in the Rijksmuseum for the coming weeks. The most famous painting for only eight weeks, the others until the end of the exhibition.

The much attention for Vermeer is simply also because a lot of PR has been set up around it, says Iris Frederix, painter and TV coach. “This year is Vermeer’s year, there will be a new TV program about Vermeer and there is also a lot of promotion abroad; people come from Asia Girl with a pearl earring. But I am glad that this attention is going to Vermeer!”

It is a painter who has produced relatively little, she says. “About 45 paintings, some of which no longer exist. Look at Rembrandt, who made more than 300, including the gigantic one Night Watch. Vermeer shows that it is not about how much you have produced, but that you can still leave something behind. I find that comforting. In this busy time, with a thousand TV channels, social media and modern and often chaotic art, the peace and stillness in his paintings is something we crave.”

She sees this reflected in her favorite painting by Vermeer: Woman reading a letter in blue. “The woman then received a letter. You don’t know whose. it is a moment of stillness, of being alone but still being in contact. It is a simple composition, but very interesting because you can think of anything and it is painted brilliantly, with the striking light and the contours. When you stand in front of it, you feel silence.”

For those looking for tickets: there are still enough tickets available, a spokesperson for the Mauritshuis said.