artist . His charming , boyish co-curator , Pieter Roelofs , traveled to museums abroad to negotiate the lending out of their Vermeers . Raes portrays his delicate dance to secure the paintings for the exhibition . Sometimes it worked : the Frick lent all three , the National Gallery lent four , the Met lent two … and sometimes it didn ’ t . The curator at the Met explained they were not allowed to lend out two paintings , A Maid Asleep and Study of a Young Woman , as stipulated in the donor ’ s will that they never leave the museum . Gregor Weber traveled to Braunschweig , Germany , himself to try to convince the curator that Young Woman with a Wine Glass was essential for the exhibition . He was unsuccessful . What the audience sees is a look behind the curtain in the classy but high-level bargaining of “ you scratch my back , I ’ ll scratch yours ” in the world of art museums .
Explored , too , is the question of what makes a Vermeer a Vermeer . Raes introduces us to Jonathan Janson , artist , historian , and renowned Vermeer expert , who has created the website Essential Vermeer ( www . essentialvermeer . com ), so great is his devotion to the painter . He is filmed in rapt conversation with Weber discussing brushwork , colors , light , and the authenticity of a yellow shawl . Raes also spotlights two passionate experts , museum conservators Abbie Vandivere and Anna Krekeler , filming them analyzing the paintings with microscopes and newfound technology to scan the paintings , virtually peeling away layers of paint to discover what was original and to see if the paintings are authentic . That was a prevailing question throughout . Girl with a Flute , quite simply , did not pass the test , according to a Washington team of expert curators / conservators , and they determined it must have been painted ( rather clumsily ) by someone else . A scandal in the art world ! Yet Girl with a Flute was deemed authentic by the Rijksmuseum curators and displayed in full view during the exhibition .
Then there are the paintings themselves ; the camera brilliantly captures their exquisite charm both hanging on museums ’ walls and under the microscope . Though mostly painted on small canvases , the viewer is drawn into the deliciously detailed scenes as Vermeer plays with the light , creating a mood , a sensation , suspended in time . Many of his paintings are of women , discretely , coyly , inviting you into their worlds . This documentary enables the moviegoer to get just that little bit closer . 79 minutes .
© NEUE VISIONEN FILMVERLEIH
CLOSE TO VERMEER
VERMEER — REISE INS LICHT , DICHT BIJ VERMEER
NETHERLANDS 2023 OPENING NOVEMBER 9 , 2023
DIRECTED BY : SUZANNE RAES WRITING CREDITS : SUZANNE RAES
PRINCIPAL ACTORS : DOCUMENTARY
CURRENTS 43