"Questions of authenticity and attribution are behind a new display by English Heritage at Kenwood House in London to mark the 350th anniversary of the death of Johannes Vermeer. For the first time in 300 years, two nearly identical paintings of the Guitar Player, one signed by the Dutch master, the other on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and until recently believed to be a 17th- or 18th-century copy, will hang side by side."
"A 2022 exhibition at Washington DC's National Gallery of Art similarly set out to examine what makes a Vermeer a Vermeer. The long-contested Girl With a Flute was subsequently downgraded to the work of an associate, because the quality falls short of Vermeer's standards. Earlier this summer, a rumbling dispute about the authenticity of Rubens' Samson and Delilah, bought for a record sum by the National Gallery in London in 1980, was reignited, with a petition launched calling for a public debate to resolve the issue."
"The National has been accused of covering up a duff acquisition by applying a modern blockboard to the painting's back claims the gallery has rigorously refuted. Art-world controversies are often the stuff of detective fiction. The Kenwood masterpiece has fingerprints on its surface, presumably those of the artist himself; the Philadelphia painting still has the wax seal of a long-ago owner on the back. No wonder such stories appeal to writers."
English Heritage is exhibiting two nearly identical Guitar Player paintings at Kenwood House to mark Johannes Vermeer's 350th death anniversary. One painting is signed by Vermeer and the other is on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art; experts have debated their relationship for a century. Visitors are invited to compare the works to spot five differences. Recent attribution controversies include the downgrading of Girl With a Flute at the National Gallery of Art and renewed disputes over Rubens' Samson and Delilah in London. Physical evidence such as fingerprints, wax seals, and conservation methods influence provenance and authenticity judgments.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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