Websites of Museum with Vermeer Paintings in their Collections

(part one)

Vermeer's 36 authentic paintings are housed in 17 different institutions in northeastern American and Europe. Almost all of these institutions have a website in which their Vermeer painting are represented. Some have allotted only low quality images and minimum text while other, such as the Rijksmuseum, the Metropolitan of New York, and the National Gallery of Washington, provide navigators with in-depth information about their Vermeer's and many other important works of art in their collections. Furthermore, a select few also provide excellent tools for exploring various facets of art history such as timelines, essays on special topics, extraordinary zoom images and more. These sites have been signaled with four or five stars. The Rijksmuseum has earned  six stars.

If you are traveling specifically to see a painting by Vermeer, always contact the museum beforehand to be sure it is on display at the moment. Paintings can be on temporary loan or in restoration.
Vermeer's Guitar Player in the in the refurbished Dining-Room
of the Kenwood House
part one  
The Rijksmuseum  Amsterdam, Netherlands
New York Metropolitan Museum of Art  New York, U.S.A.
National Gallery  Washington D.C. , U.S.A.
National Gallery  London, England
part two  
The Mauritshuis  The Hague
Frick Collection  New York, U.S.A.
Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie  Berlin, Germany
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemäldegalerie  Dresden, Germany
Städelsches Kunstinstitut Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Louvre Paris, France
part three  
Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum Brunswick, Germany
Kunsthistorische Museum Vienna, Austria
National Gallery of Ireland Dublin, Ireland
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Boston, U.S.A.
Kenwood House London, England 
The Royal Collection, Buckingham Palace London, England   
National Gallery of Scotland Edinburgh, England
Art Gallery, Wynn of Las Vegas Las Vegas, U. S. A
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    • Rijksmuseum logo

    THE RIJKSMUSEUM

    Rijksmuseum home pagehttp://www.rijksmuseum.nl/index.jsp?lang=en


    With close on one million objects Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum is the largest museum of art and history in the Netherlands. It is perhaps best known for its collection of 17th-century Dutch masters, with twenty Rembrandt's and many other highlights of the period, including works by Frans Hals, Jan Steen and just about every significant Dutch 17th c. painter. Vermeer is represented with four absolute masterpieces, The Milkmaid, The Little House, The Love Letter, The Little Street and the Woman in Blue Reading a Letter.

    From December 2003 to 2008 the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam will undergo the biggest rebuilding, renovation and modernization programme in its history (see below right). However, during this period the finest works from the 17th century in the Rijksmuseum will continue to be on view under the title The Masterpieces. The redesigned Philips Wing will provide an opportunity to see the highlights of the Golden Age together in suggestive combinations.

    Remember, if you are visiting the Rijksmuseum expressly to see the four Vermeer's, you should contact the museum personnel beforehand to see if they are on display.

    The museum's already monumental website services has totally been amplified and redesigned. Visitors will marvel at the sheer quantity as well as the quality of images and information available making it  the museum website to rival, once the visitor gets used to the novel navigational system. Perhaps the Rijksmuseum website deserves to be called the most valuable museum related website on the net.

    The site has undergone a three-part renewal: design, content and technical infrastructure have all been overhauled. The website makes use of the beautiful and world-renowned Rijksmuseum collection by using large images as well as greatly magnified details (often in full screen format, in so-called “moving panels”). The images also serve as navigational tools, prompting viewers to keep clicking to discover underlying information.

    Fortunately, one webpage is dedicated to each of the four Vermeer's of the museum's collection, each of which presents an image and comment. A pulldown menu will guide help you explore various facets of each particular painting. By clicking on the zoom link you will access a high quality image which can be enlarged by clicking on the icon which appears in the lower right hand corner as you pass your cursor over the area. Many navigators lament that the enlarged image is too dark and contrasted. However, it is truly well worth the effort to save the image on your hard disk and then simply increase its luminosity with any graphics program.

    The Rijksmuseum collection has a sizeable educational database, which was previously accessible under ‘1250 Major Exhibits’ .

    Professionals – and all other interested parties of course – can search through over 50,000 works, of which more than 3,500 are accompanied by images (only Dutch). This was made possible by linking up a number of different Rijksmuseum content databases: Adlib, the Collection Management System, ARIA and the library catalogue with over 200,000 books and periodicals. An increasing number of Rijksmuseum works will be made available online during the next few years.

    Do not miss the site's sumptuous encyclopedia or the chance to search the museums entire collection, both invaluable features for the curious, the neophyte or the seasoned art historian.

    museum links:

    Remember, you must first select the area of your research in the upper pulldowm menu where "kies zoekveld..." is written.

    search the rijksmuseum websites:

    3. fill in the search box form (near the magnifying glass icon) with the term you wish to search and press enter

    This online search function is extremely powerful. It can be accessed throughout the site by rolling your cursor over the "home" link, "search" is on the bottom  of the pulldown menu. Users need only a single command to simultaneously search the website, the museum's collection, the web shop and the library catalogue, which contains more than 200,000 books and periodicals. For example, when you type in the word  "Rembrandt",  364 collection objects, 23 web entries and 1494 library entries show up.

    Online special The Masterpieces of the Golden Age

    museum information:

    While the restoration of the main building is underway, the Rijksmuseum will display the crème de la crème of its permanent collection in the newly furnished Philips Wing. Rijksmuseum, The Masterpieces offers the unique opportunity to view all the highlights of the Golden Age in one place. Warm up for the The Masterpieces (see link above) with the museum's online presentation, or use it to round off your visit. (Flash MX plugin necessary)

    location:
    Rijksmuseum the Masterpeices (Philips Wing):
    Jan Luijkenstraat 1

    opening hours:
    The Rijksmuseum is open every day from 9:00-18:00.

    Fridays open ffrom 9:00 to 22:00
    Closed 1 January.

    Library, Print Room and Reading Room Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00 Identification is required.

    web contact:
    info@rijksmuseum

    museum newsletter (in Dutch only):
    http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/hetnieuwerijksmuseum/nieuws?lang=en

    Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
    the Rijksmuseum
    under renovation
    Rijksmuseum entrance, Amsterdam
    the temporary entrance
    to the Rijksmuseum

    Rijksmuseum ticket

    The Rijksmuseum's Renovation

    from the museum's website:

    The Provisional Design for The New Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has been approved by the Ministries of Education and Housing and by the Directors of the Rijksmuseum.

    The plans, by the Spanish architects Cruz and Ortiz, now enter a new phase. The highlight of the design is an imposing museum entrance, a new underground square of 4,000 square meters which will be reached by escalators in the passage under the museum. Realizing the New Rijksmuseum will cost a total of 272 million euros. The State Secretary for Cultural Affairs, Medy van der Laan, the Director-General of the Rijksmuseum, Ronald de Leeuw, and the architects today presented the plans for this major modernization, renovation and restoration.

    The Spanish architects Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz have carried out a brief to make the Rijksmuseum suitable to receive millions of visitors, and to modernize it to meet 21st-century standards. They were also briefed to bring back the clarity of the original design by P.J.H. Cuypers, increase the visibility of the collections and make the museum attractive to a wide audience.

    The result in 2008 will be a transparent, open museum. The choices made by the government and the museum in the commissioning process have been incorporated into a new financial framework. This takes into account the costs of the underground square (20 million euros), the tunnel connections and the Asian pavilion (totaling 7.5 million euros), and incorporates the costs of moving (3 million euros). The budget up to 2010 is 272 million euros. This also includes the construction of the new Workshop Building, the organization of new storage space in Lelystad, the temporary accommodation of the collection and staff until 2008 and the cancellation of current leases. The total amount of 272 million euros is entirely covered within the financial framework laid down for The New Rijksmuseum.


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    • THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

    MET home pagehttp://http://www.metmuseum.org/home.asp



    The renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art has one of the greatest art collections of the world. In formation since 1870, the Metropolitan Museum's collection now contains more than two million works of art from all points of the compass, ancient through modern times. It houses five Vermeer's, more than any other museum in the world, from every period of the artist's career.

    Remember, if you are visiting the Metropolitan expressly to see the four Vermeer's, you should contact the museum personnel beforehand to see if they are on display.

    The museums website contains about 6,500 objects—highlights from each of the Museum's curatorial departments as well as the entire Department of European Paintings and the entire Department of American Paintings and Sculpture which can be accessed online and provides the serious navigator with a wealth of online resources.

    The museum's luxurious website dedicates one page for each of five Vermeer's in their collection. Each painting presents a enlarged image of discreet quality, a description, notes on signature and provenance/ownership. However, the Woman with a Water Pitcher is featured in an excellent zoom mode allowing the painting to be explored in great detail.

    The museum website also features a unique Timeline of Art History that can be used with great profit and a good search function although the careful navigator will find a large number of stimulating features and useful resources.

    museum links:

    The Timeline of Art History is a chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of the history of art from around the world, as illustrated especially by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection. The Museum's curatorial, conservation, and education staff—the largest team of art experts anywhere in the world—research and write the Timeline, which is an invaluable reference and research tool for students, educators, scholars, and anyone interested in the study of art history and related subjects. First launched in 2000, the Timeline now extends from prehistory to the present day. The Timeline will continue to expand in scope and depth, and also reflect the most up–to–date scholarship. The MET's search function, a rather helpful tool, can be found on the lower left-hand corner of the home page or on any page of the "Works of Art" section.

    Enter the name of artist or term you wish to research and you will prompt a page where you have the option to search in one of the following areas: Explore & Learn section, the Timeline of Art History, the Met Store, the online Calendar, or, the comprehensive site-wide search, including Visitors Information, the Timeline of Art History, Membership, News from the Met, Events & Programs, Educational Resources, and Recent Acquisitions.

    Artist Index

    museum information:

    location:
    1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
    New York, New York 10028-0198
    General Information: 212-535-7710
    TTY: 212-570-3828 or 212-650-2551

    opening hours:
    Friday 9:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
    Saturday 9:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
    Tuesday 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
    Wednesday 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
    Thursday 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
    Closed Mondays, January 1, Thanksgiving Day, December 25

    email contact page:
    http://www.metmuseum.org/contact.htm?HomePageLink=contact


    the facade of the MET with
    the Vermeer and the School of Delft
    exhibition banner

     


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    • NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

    NGA home pagehttp://http://www.nga.gov/home.htm

    American museum of art, part of the federally operated Smithsonian Institution system, located at the east end of the Mall, Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1937 when the financier and philanthropist Andrew W. Mellon donated to the government a collection of paintings by European masters and a large sum of money to construct the gallery's Neoclassical building, which was designed by the architect John Russell Pope and opened in 1941.

    The National Gallery now houses a very extensive collection of European and American paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, and graphic works from the 12th to the 20th century. The museum has especially rich holdings of works by Italian Renaissance painters, as well as by Dutch and Spanish Baroque and French Rococo artists.

    The website of the NGA, which once appeared sufficiently elegant, is now outdated and the richness of the collection deserves something more sophisticated.

    Each of the museums four Vermeer's is represented the following features: a full screen image, bibliography, conservation notes, detail images, exhibition history, location, narrative and provenance. There is also an excellent multi-page study of Vermeer's Woman Holding a Balance. resources.

    museum links:

    museum information:

    location:
    National Mall between Third and Seventh Streets at Constitution Avenue, NW

    opening hours:
    Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1.

    mailing address:
    2000B South Club Drive, Landover, MD 20785
    Tel. (202) 842-6690

    web site Newsletter:
    Send an e-mail to webnews@nga.gov with the word "subscribe" in the subject field and you will be automatically signed up for the NGA site newsletter.

    web contact:
    http://www.nga.gov/xio/phone.shtm

    current exhibitions:
    http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/exhibits.shtm

    curatorial records (NGA collection questions only):
    curatorial-records@nga.gov

    gallery archives
    gallery-archives@nga.gov


    The national Gallery of Art

     


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    • THE NATIONAL GALLERY

    National Gallery home pagehttp://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/default.htm


    The National Gallery of Art in London, one of the most extraordinary collections of European art in the world, houses the national collection of Western European painting: over 2,300 pictures dating from 1250 to 1900 including two Vermeer's, A Lady Standing at the Virginal and Lady Seated at a Virginal. Some critics believe that these two paintings were intended as pendants. The gallery's website has a number of very interesting features and navigators may also subscribe to a newsletter.

    One web page is dedicated to each of Vermeer's two paintings. Each presents a brief description and a smallish image which can be enlarged but still remains only sufficient. However, The Lady Standing at a Spinet and Lady Seated at the Spinet can be seen with an extraordinary "zoom" (452 K) feature. The paintings can be explored in minute detail and most important. the color is exceptionally accurate. The drawing of each of the tiny square baseboard Delft tiles with representations of children at play, a cupid and a boat can be made out and the audacious handling of the veins on the marble floor tiles cannot be missed. The same for the golden frame. The only flaw with this feature is that a discrete(?) "National Gallery of Art" watermark marks the image in a number of very uncomfortable areas.

    Although it is certainly the gallery's right to protect their image in this way, one wonders why the Rijksmuseum, which has equally beautiful "zoom" images of all four of their Vermeer's, can do without this fastidious visual  accompaniment. At the moment, there are some 156 zoomable pictures in the gallery's collection including masterworks of Western art such as Jan van Eyck's  Arnolfini Portrait, Titian's Bacchus and Ariadne.

    The National Gallery of London must still make significant advances before it can compete with the websites Rijksmuseum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a truly useful tool for the art lover.

    museum links:

    museum information:

    location:
    The National Gallery Trafalgar Square London WC2N 5DN

    opening hours:
    Open daily 10am-6pm, Wednesday 10am-9pm. Closed 1 January and 24-26 December

    contact:
    tel: 020 7747 2885 including Typetalk. fax: 020 7747 2423.

    email:
    information@ng-london.org.uk email enquiries will usually be responded to within ten working days, Mondays to Fridays only.


    National Gallery of London