Exterior of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam
Past

Vermeer: Origin and Influence

Fabritius, de Hooch, de Witte

The first exhibition ever titled 'Vermeer'. Dirk Hannema's catalogue numbered roughly fourteen works in the Vermeer section to celebrate the opening of the new Boijmans building. By modern standards only eight are autograph Vermeers; the remaining six have since been rejected or reattributed, including the Van Wijngaarden forgeries of The Smiling Girl and The Lacemaker (now NGA Washington), the Brussels Portrait of a Young Man (now given to the Maes/Fabritius circle), a Yorkshire Magdalen and other anonymous heads. Contrary to popular belief, Van Meegeren's Christ at Emmaus was not in this show — it did not yet exist. 61,749 visitors. Poster by Fré Cohen.
Dates
9 Jul 1935 9 Oct 1935

Paintings13

Sources

  • Justine Rinnoy Kan, 'The Vermeer exhibition of 1935: a major debut in historical perspective,' Oud Holland 134 (2021), no. 4, pp. 210–234
  • Gary Schwartz, 'Schwartzlist 416: The Vermeer exhibitions of 1935' (23 April 2023)
  • Jonathan Janson, Essential Vermeer — Vermeer Catalogue with Exhibitions for each Painting (essentialvermeer.com)
  • Dirk Hannema, Vermeer: Oorsprong en invloed. Fabritius, De Hooch, De Witte, exh. cat. (Museum Boymans, Rotterdam, 1935), 48 pp.