Vermeer’s Studio and the Girl with a Flute: New Findings from the National Gallery of Art

Studio of Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Flute, ca. 1669/1675, oil on panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington

The blocky brushwork and awkwardly positioned figure of Girl with a Flute (National Gallery of Art, Washington) have led many to doubt whether Johannes Vermeer, who painted the superficially similar Girl with the Red Hat (National Gallery of Art, Washington), also made this work. Over the last two years, curators, conservators, and scientists collaborated to resolve the uncertainty surrounding this painting and determined that the painting is not, in fact, by Vermeer. The artist who created this work was intimately familiar with Vermeer’s unique working methods and used the same materials and techniques but was unable to achieve Vermeer’s level of delicacy or expertise—raising the intriguing possibility that Vermeer had associates working with him in his studio. For further exploration, see “Methodology & Resources,”First Steps in Vermeer’s Creative Process,” and “Experimentation and Innovation in Vermeer’s Girl with the Red Hat, in this issue.

DOI: 10.5092/jhna.2022.14.2.3

Acknowledgements

For their precious time, careful attention, valuable insights, and generous support preparing the texts and images for this special edition of JHNA, the authors would like to thank:

·      Barbara Andersson
·      Barbara Berrie
·      Koen Bulckens
·      Perry Chapman
·      Adam Eaker
·      Kaywin Feldman
·      Francesca Gabrieli
·      Lindy Gifford
·      Catherine Goode
·      Jennifer Henel
·      Kurt Heumiller
·      Nico Van Hout
·      Anna Krekeler
·      Jay Krueger
·      Doug Lachance
·      Annelies van Loon
·      Dorothy Mahon
·      Sabrina Meloni
·      Asuka Nakada
·      Uta Neidhardt
·      Petria Noble
·      Elizabeth Pochter
·      Carol Potash
·      Henriette Rahusen
·      E. Carmen Ramos
·      Pieter Roelofs
·      Jessica Skwire Routhier
·      Eric Tollefson
·      Abbie Vandivere
·      Ige Verslype
·      Adriaan Waiboer
·      Jørgen Wadum
·      Joan Walker
·      Gregor Weber
·      Greg Williams

Imprint

Review: Peer Review (Double Blind)
DOI: 10.5092/jhna.2022.14.2.3
License:
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation:
Marjorie E. Wieseman, Alexandra Libby, E. Melanie Gifford, Dina Anchin, "Vermeer’s Studio and the Girl with a Flute: New Findings from the National Gallery of Art," Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 14:2 (Summer 2022) DOI: 10.5092/jhna.2022.14.2.3