How to Look at a Vermeer
The Atlantic|May 2023
The artist left behind few clues about his life or intentions, but the paintings themselves teach the viewer new ways to see.
Susan Tallman
How to Look at a Vermeer

Of all the great painters of the golden age when the small, soggy Netherlands arose as an improbable global power, Johannes Vermeer is the most beloved and the most disarming. Rembrandt gives us grandeur and human frailty, Frans Hals gives us brio, Pieter de Hooch gives us busy burghers, but Vermeer issues an invitation. The trompe l'oeil curtain is pulled back, and if the people on the other side don’t turn to greet us, it’s only because we are always expected.

Vermeer’s paintings are few in number and scattered over three continents, and they rarely travel. The 28 gathered in Amsterdam for the Rijksmuseum’s current, dazzling exhibition represent about threequarters of the surviving work—“a greater number than the artist might have ever seen together himself,” a co-curator, Pieter Roelofs, notes—and make this the largest Vermeer show in history. The previous record holder took place 27 years ago at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and at the Mauritshuis, in The Hague. Prior to that, the only chance to see anything close would have been the Amsterdam auction in May 1696 that dispersed perhaps half of everything he’d painted in his life.

This story is from the May 2023 edition of The Atlantic.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the May 2023 edition of The Atlantic.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE ATLANTICView All
Saint Dismas
The Atlantic

Saint Dismas

Carlito held one end of the rope, Omar the other.

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2024
Why Do Animals Play?
The Atlantic

Why Do Animals Play?

Scientists want an evolutionary explanation. But maybe the answer is simply: Its fun.

time-read
8 mins  |
April 2024
The Insider
The Atlantic

The Insider

Is Kara Swisher tearing down tech billionaires—or burnishing their legends?

time-read
10 mins  |
April 2024
A Bloody Retelling of Huckleberry Finn
The Atlantic

A Bloody Retelling of Huckleberry Finn

Percival Everett transforms Mark Twain’ classic.

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2024
THE SECRET GOSPEL
The Atlantic

THE SECRET GOSPEL

A Columbia history professor claimed that he discovered a sacred text with shocking details about the life of Jesus. Was it real?

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2024
AFTER THE MIRACLE
The Atlantic

AFTER THE MIRACLE

Cystic fibrosis once guaranteed an early deathbut a medical breakthrough has given many patients a chance to live decades longer than expected. What do they do now?

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2024
JODIE FOSTER'S LIFE ON-SCREEN
The Atlantic

JODIE FOSTER'S LIFE ON-SCREEN

SINCE CHILDHOOD, SHE'S STRUGGLED WITH ONE QUESTION: HOW MUCH DOES SHE WANT THE PUBLIC TO KNOW HER?

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2024
THE END OF THE GOLDEN AGE
The Atlantic

THE END OF THE GOLDEN AGE

ANTI-SEMITISM ON THE RIGHT AND THE LEFT THREATENS TO END AN UNPRECEDENTED PERIOD OF SAFETY AND PROSPERITY FOR JEWISH AMERICANS-AND DEMOLISH THE LIBERAL ORDER THEY HELPED ESTABLISH.

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2024
The Radio Squirrels of Point Reyes
The Atlantic

The Radio Squirrels of Point Reyes

\"Calling all. This is our last cry before our eternal silence.\" With that, in January 1997, the French Coast Guard transmitted its final message in Morse code.

time-read
2 mins  |
April 2024
THE GRUMPY ECONOMY
The Atlantic

THE GRUMPY ECONOMY

Why Americans trust feelings more than facts when it comes to prosperity

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2024