BY MARTHA WILLIAMS
The newly-released documentary film, “Vermeer: The Greatest Exhibition” will be screened free of charge at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at The Community Library.
Sun Valley Museum of Art curator Courtney Gilbert will give a short talk on Vermeer’s work before the screening.
This new Exhibition on Screen film invites audiences to a private viewing of the largest Vermeer exhibition in history, which opens this spring at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Its three-month run sold out within hours.
One of the great Dutch Masters, Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) lived and worked in Delft. His work is best known for his tranquil, introverted indoor scenes, his unprecedented use of bright, colorful light and his convincing illusionism.
Luxurious fabrics and dangling pearls make his masterpieces a feast for the eyes not to be missed. This momentous retrospective is the largest ever devoted exclusively to the “master of light,” with 28 of his 35 known works from countries all over the world, including “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” “The Geographer,” “The Milkmaid,” “The Little Street,” “Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid” and “Woman Holding a Balance.”
The exhibit also includes the first time the newly restored “Girl Reading a Letter at the Open Window” will be displayed. Never have so many Vermeer masterpieces been brought together in one place.
“We would not have thought it possible that so many museums are willing to lend their masterpieces,” said Taco Dibbits, director of the Rijksmuseum. “With this exhibition we can introduce a new generation to Vermeer’s paintings.”
In addition to bringing Vermeer’s works together, both the Rijksmuseum and the Mauritshuis in the Hague have conducted research into Vermeer’s artistry, his artistic choices and motivations for his compositions, as well as the creative process behind his paintings. The documentary film reveals insights from the exhibit’s curators and experts, shedding new light on Vermeer’s mysterious life and masterful work.
“There was so much press about the opening of the Vermeer exhibition in the Netherlands,” said Carter Hedberg, director of philanthropy at The Community Library. “I was thrilled when a friend of the Library made me aware that a film of the show had been made before its opening. After some investigation and a few emails with the production company in England, we were able to secure a screening here in Ketchum!”
“Vermeer: The Greatest Exhibition” is directed by award-winning producer and director David Bickerstaff (Pisarro: Father of Impressionism, Sunflowers) and produced by multi-award winner Phil Grabsky. It provides art lovers with a chance to see Vermeer’s masterpieces in a way that no one else can.
Exhibition on Screen creates cinematic journeys into the personal and creative lives of history’s best loved artists and their work. Working with top international museums and galleries, their team creates films which offer a cinematic immersion into the world’s best loved art, accompanied by insights from the world’s leading historians and arts critics.
Seventh Art Productions, the company behind the Exhibition on Screen series, won a BAFTA for Best Documentary and were nominated for another for Best Cinematography, along with many other prestigious awards. The film has a runtime of 90 minutes.
The event is in-person only. Reserve your seat at https://thecommunitylibrary.libcal.com/event/10630256