NR | 1h 18min | Documentary, History, Art | 26 May 2023 (Netherlands)
Other than possibly Rembrandt, none of the painters to produce art during the 17th-century Dutch Golden Age is as well-respected and revered by experts and collectors as Johannes Vermeer.
Depending on the source, Vermeer created just 40 works between 1654 and 1670. Of those, six are presumed lost or destroyed, and at least one is, again depending on the source, incorrectly attributed.
Director Suzanne Raes devotes roughly a third of the running time of the new documentary “Close to Vermeer” to a debate regarding the authenticity of a single painting: “Girl With a Flute.”
Images of paintings to be exhibited in documentary “Close to Vermeer.” (Courtesy of Kino Lorber)
This often contentious debate between U.S. and Dutch curators is the last in a series of meetings leading up to the main event: a 2023 Vermeer exhibit taking place at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. This exhibit (in theory) is historic as it will feature the highest number of Vermeer works ever under one roof. The trick is in convincing two galleries in the United States and another in Germany to lend a total of 10 works to the exhibition….