"For many years, the paintings one of which is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, while the other hangs at Kenwood were believed to have been painted by the Dutch master. But in the 1920s, the consensus shifted. The Kenwood painting, which is in much better condition and crucially is signed by the artist, was the original Vermeer, experts agreed."
"In 2023, a Dutch art researcher suggested that the Philadelphia painting might be the painter's own copy of the image potentially a sensational development for an artist with only 37 acknowledged surviving paintings. As a result, the Philadelphia Museum of Art has been conducting further tests on their painting, while English Heritage, which manages Kenwood and its collection for the nation, has also tested its own Vermeer."
Two near-identical 17th-century paintings titled the Guitar Player exist in Kenwood and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Kenwood version is in better condition and bears a signature long taken as proof of authenticity. The Philadelphia version was widely accepted as a 17th- or 18th-century copy after a 1920s consensus. In 2023 a Dutch researcher proposed that the Philadelphia work might be the painter’s own studio copy, prompting new technical investigations by both institutions. Both paintings will hang side by side in London for four months while results are awaited.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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