‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ to draw crowds

NEW YORK - Agence France-Presse

The Dutch masterpiece ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ is open to visitors in New York. AFP photo

“Girl with a Pearl Earring,” the much-loved Dutch masterpiece that has intrigued art lovers for centuries, went on exhibition in New York yesterday, set to draw huge crowds.

Painted by Johannes Vermeer around 1665, it is the highlight of 15 extraordinary 17th-century paintings on loan to The Frick Collection until Jan. 19.

The canvas has enjoyed a cult following since becoming the subject of a best-selling novel in 1999 and a Hollywood film starring Scarlett Johansson in 2003.

The Dutch Golden Age exhibition has been four years in the making and is expected to be hugely popular if for this painting alone, said Frick director Ian Wardropper.

The Frick, which is one of the smallest galleries in New York, is preparing to welcome a maximum of 2,000 people a day or 12,000 a week, Wardropper told AFP.

“For us it is a huge number. That is why we ticketed it, so we have some control, and people won’t feel they are overwhelmed,” he told AFP.

New York is the latest step in a globe-trotting tour for the painting while The Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in The Hague undergoes renovation work. It is the first time in three decades “Girl with a Pearl Earring” has been seen in New York.

Just 45 by 40 centimeters, it shows a young girl glancing over her shoulder, wearing a blue and yellow headscarf and a pearl earring. “Girl with a Pearl Earring” was bought by collector Arnoldus Andries des Tombe in 1881 for the equivalent of $1 and later bequeathed to the Mauritshuis.

Most recently restored in 1994, it is the sole canvas on view in Frick’s Oval Room, with the rest on display in the East Gallery.