Close To Vermeer

Go behind the scenes of the largest Vermeer exhibition ever mounted, recently on view at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Capturing the imagination of the art world – with glowing reviews, global press, and tickets sold out through the entirety of its run – the Rijksmuseum’s Vermeer retrospective is nothing short of an historic event. Suzanne Raes’ film follows curators, conservators, collectors, and experts in their joint mission to shine a new light on the elusive Dutch Master who created such crowd-pleasers as The Milkmaid and Girl with a Pearl Earring. This fascinating documentary reveals everything from the quiet diplomacy required to get the Vermeers to the Netherlands and the new technical knowledge gained by scanning the paintings layer by layer, to the shocking news that one work may not be by Vermeer after all. In the process, we discover how Vermeer was able to depict reality so differently from his contemporaries. But above all, Close to Vermeer shows the infectious love Vermeer’s art inspires. As one curator lovingly puts it: “A good exhibition should change your view of the world. Vermeer can really do that.” (Dir. by Suzanne Raes, 2023, Netherlands, in Dutch with English subtitles, 78 mins., Not Rated)