The hunt for as many as nine elusive Vermeer paintings continues

With solely 37 authenticated Johannes Vermeer work (28 within the Rijksmuseum’s sold-out exhibition), may there be extra on the market, not but recognised as from his hand? Vermeer’s manufacturing was actually bigger, so the hunt continues for the lacking masterpieces. Specialists imagine {that a} quantity are nonetheless unaccounted for.

Round 9 Vermeers which have disappeared are listed in previous information, together with a self-portrait—which might symbolize the best discovery. On the 1696 sale of the Jacob Dissius assortment (inherited from the artist’s main Delft patron, Maria de Knuijt), there was a “portrait of Vermeer in a room with varied equipment”, described as “uncommonly superbly painted by him”. This isn’t The Artwork of Portray (1666-68, now on the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna), during which the artist is depicted from behind.

Pieter Roelofs, the co-curator of the Rijksmuseum’s Vermeer (till 4 June), suggests within the exhibition catalogue that the composition of the misplaced self-portrait could properly have been copied by, or supplied the inspiration for, Michiel van Musscher, a barely later Dutch artist. He believes that Van Musscher’s A Self-portrait of the Artist in his Studio (1670, non-public assortment) was “most likely painted after Vermeer’s mannequin [the lost self-portrait]”. If that’s the case, Van Musscher appears to have substituted his personal facial options for these of Vermeer.

Three different Vermeers are listed within the Dissius stock. These embody an image described as “a view” of a home or homes, which should be a misplaced cityscape, presumably carried out at across the similar time as The Little Avenue (round 1658, Rijksmuseum) and View of Delft (1660-61, Mauritshuis, The Hague). Dissius additionally owned the misplaced portray recorded as “a gentleman washing his arms, in a perspective room, with statues”.

The sculptor Johannes Larson, who labored partly in London, was one of many earliest collectors, proudly owning “a face by Vermeer”. This was recorded at his demise in The Hague in 1664.

5 different Vermeers that happen in 18th-century inventories most likely additionally report misplaced work: “Lady combing her hair”, “The go to to the tomb” (presumably a Biblical topic), the mythological “Jupiter, Venus and Mercury”, “Painter enjoying a violin” and “Lady consuming oysters and pouring out wine”.

Tip of the iceberg?

Artwork historians have discovered it notably troublesome to trace down Vermeer’s work for quite a lot of causes: his creating fashion, his wide selection of material, the truth that solely half his identified works are signed, and, most significantly, as a result of he remained comparatively unknown outdoors Holland till his status developed within the late nineteenth century.

The important thing query is whether or not the 37 surviving works and the 9 or so in early information symbolize all (or almost all) of Vermeer’s oeuvre—or if they’re simply the tip of the iceberg.

Elucidating the artist’s course of

Most specialists imagine that there have been not many greater than the authenticated 37, with Roelofs suggesting that the entire may be 45 to 50. This works out at simply over two work a 12 months. If the quantity is larger, then this casts additional doubt on the idea incessantly made that Vermeer painted slowly and meticulously.

But when there are a considerably bigger variety of misplaced Vermeers, which appears equally believable, then we would properly have to revise our view on how the grasp of Delft developed. And as Roelofs admits, the re-emergence of misplaced work “may properly make clear Vermeer’s progress, ought to they ever be rediscovered”.