The largest Johannes Vermeer paintings exhibition ever is planned by the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and the Mauritshuis The Hague for 2023.
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam announced the largest retrospective exhibition of Johannes Vermeer paintings ever for the first half of 2023. The Vermeer exhibition, in cooperation with the Mauritshuis in Den Haag, will include loan works from all over the world and will be on view from 10 February to 4 June 2023 in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Rijksmuseum tickets with timeslot reservations for the Vermeer exhibitions are on sale from late 2022. Admission is €30 including both the Vermeer exhibition and permanent collection.
Special Vermeer Exhibition in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam in 2023
In the spring of 2023, the Rijksmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands, will dedicate a retrospective exhibition to the 17th-century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) for the first time in its history. With loans from all over the world, this promises to be the largest Vermeer exhibition ever.
The special Vermeer exhibition is a collaboration between the Rijksmuseum that owns four Vermeer paintings and the Mauritshuis in The Hague that owns three. Both museums will conduct research into Vermeer’s artistry, his artistic choices, and motivations for his compositions, as well as into the creative process of his paintings.
At the same time, the Museum Prinsenhof Delft will organize the exhibition Vermeer’s Delft (10 February to 4 June 2023). This will be the first-ever exhibition to explore in-depth the cultural-historical context in which Vermeer’s practice flourished.
The Frick Collection’s Vermeer (Officer and Laughing Girl) will be on display in the Mauritshuis in The Hague from 29 September 2022 to 15 January 2023 in the Manhattan Masters special exhibition — no news yet on whether this Vermeer will make it to Amsterdam.
Vermeer Paintings in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 2023
Only around 35 paintings by Johannes Vermeer survived. Ten Vermeers were on display in a special Vermeer exhibition in Dresden at the end of 2021, and 22 were at the Mauritshuis in 1996, so the Rijksmuseum will have to top that for the largest ever collection of Vermeer paintings displayed simultaneously in a temporary exhibition.
The following Vermeer paintings have been confirmed for the exhibition in Amsterdam in 2023:
The Rijksmuseum itself has four masterpieces by Vermeer, including the world-famous The Milkmaid and View of Houses in Delft, Known as ‘The Little Street’ but also Woman Reading a Letter and The Love Letter.
Confirmed loans from other museums include The Girl with a Pearl Earring (Mauritshuis, The Hague) but only until 30 March 2023!, The Geographer (Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main), Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid (The National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin), and Woman Holding a Balance (The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC).
A Vermeer works never before shown to the public in the Netherlands will include the newly restored Girl Reading a Letter at the Open Window from the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.
Further works will only be confirmed later but it is hard to imagine that the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin will not loan at least one of its two Vermeers and the Mauritshuis in The Hague has two further Vermeer paintings in addition to the world-famous Girl with a Pearl Earring.
Vermeer in Delft Exhibition
Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) lived and worked in Delft. His work is best known for his tranquil, introverted indoor scenes, his unprecedented use of bright, colorful light, and his convincing illusionism. In contrast to Rembrandt, Vermeer left a remarkably small oeuvre with about 35 paintings. Although there is a popular Vermeer Centrum in Delft, none of his paintings are owned or displayed in his hometown.
Parallel to the Vermeer exhibition in the Rijksmuseum, Museum Prinsenhof Delft will organize the exhibition Vermeer’s Delft (10 February to 4 June 2023). This will be the first-ever exhibition to explore in-depth the cultural-historical context in which Vermeer’s practice flourished. Works by Delft contemporaries are displayed alongside Delft pottery, Delft carpets, archival materials, and letters.
Tickets and Opening Hours for the Vermeer Exhibition in Amsterdam 2023
The special Vermeer exhibition in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will be held from 10 February to 4 June 2023. Opening hours will be similar to the rest of the museum but timeslot reservation tickets will be essential. A surcharge over regular ticket prices is likely — buy Rijksmuseum tickets online.
- Tickets for the Rijksmuseum are usually €20 but will be €30 during the Vermeer exhibition for adults and free for children under 18. Separate tickets for the Vermeer exhibition are not sold.
- The Museumkaart and iAmsterdam Card are accepted but online time-slot reservations are essential and may require a €10 surcharge during the Vermeer exhibition.
Tickets are cheapest directly from the Rijksmuseum which is already selling Vermeer exhibition time-slot tickets but online resellers such as GetYourGuide and Tiqets often have easier cancelation and refund options. Combinations with further tours may give small discounts, e.g. with the Van Gogh Museum, Rembrandt House, Artis Zoo, or a canal cruise.
If visiting a temporary exhibition in the Rijksmuseum, the admission time is usually for entry into the special exhibition. Enter the main museum freely directly afterward.
The nearby Van Gogh Museum will have several temporary exhibitions in 2022 and 2023, including a large Gustav Klimt collection, but no Vermeers.