It had long been doubted, but it is now official: the painting ‘Girl with the flute’ is not by the well-known Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). This according to new research, reports the Washington Post.
Scientists had long doubted that the work was by the Dutch painter, because it did not look good. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, owner of the painting, saw an opportunity to take a closer look at the work when the corona pandemic broke out and the museum had to close its doors for a longer period of time. The painting – along with three others by Vermeer – was removed from the wall and taken to the conservation workshop, the National Gallery of Art reported at a press conference.
Curator Marjorie Wieseman said the research shed more light on Vermeer’s working process. And that extra knowledge, she says, allowed the research team to determine that “Girl with the Flute” is not the painter’s.
Grainy quality
For example, compared to another painting by Vermeer, also belonging to the museum, it was found that no coarsely ground pigments were used in the lower layers and finely ground pigments were used in the last layers, as did Vermeer. What the “Girl with the Flute” did did just the opposite. This gave the surface a grainy quality.
Fragments of bristles were also found in the surface layers of the painting, suggesting that an old or poorly crafted brush was used. “The artist has a conceptual understanding of how Vermeer built his paintings, but he just lacks the finesse,” Wieseman said, according to the newspaper.
According to the research team, “Girl with the Flute” was created by an artist who may have been a student, an apprentice or an amateur taught by the master. That person would have understood the technique, but had very limited skills in its execution.
Since Vermeer has long been considered a lone wolf who worked with no assistants or students, these new findings raise questions, writes the Washington Post. So, the question is who was this artist who had access to Vermeer’s studio and who used many of the same materials.
There are around 35 known paintings around the world which are attributed to Vermeer. “Girl with the Flute” was “rediscovered” in 1906 and donated to the National Gallery of Art in 1942.
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