CLOSE TO VERMEER - Mark Reviews Movies

Close to Vermeer, Kino Lorber

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Review by Mark Dujsik | May 25, 2023

Close to Vermeer is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of an exhibition revolving around the enigmatic Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. If that sounds a bit like advertising, director Suzanne Raes' documentary is to a certain degree (although the film being released after the opening of the short-term exhibit points to either a more objective goal or less-than-competent marketing). It's mostly, though, a fascinating study of Vermeer's art, the politicking of organizing an ambitious exhibition such as this, and the continuing controversy surrounding the attribution of pieces to the artist.

Raes is given fairly free access by the Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands' national museum, as its curation team plans and puts together the exhibit. The idea is to gather as many of Vermeer's paintings as possible, but of the 37 works curators Gregor Weber and Pieter Roelofs could assemble for the showing, a good number of them are scattered around the world.

This means trips to and conversations with officials at other museums in places like Germany, The Hague, New York City, and Washington, D.C., where their curators aren't always amenable to the notion of loaning one of a museum's more notable artworks. One of the staff members at the National Gallery of Art in Washington notes that pieces like the museum's Vermeers are "pilgrimage" ones for enthusiasts, so why would the museum sacrifice that appeal without, say, a deal for some of the Rijksmuseum's collection at a later date?

Much of the film, though, follows the Rijksmuseum's team, including artists and Vermeer expert Jonathan Janson, examining the pieces the museum does possess or procures for the exhibition. Little is known of Vermeer's biography, and as for how he learned to paint and the routines of his professional life, less might be known. This means even the experts have to more or less guess as to whether or not a painting was executed by the artist, using advanced technology such as detailed scans of the works and as fundamental as spotting a certain shade of green in the depiction of shadows.

It's akin to watching detectives in the fine art of the fine arts try to elicit a story from very little information, a lot of assumptions, and obvious human biases. That last component comes into play in two major debates here, one involving the D.C. museum, which insists a painting attributed to Vermeer isn't one of his, and the other concerning a private collector, who purchases the last suspected Vermeer that's not in a museum (The looks on the experts' faces when the man picks up the painting with bare hands speak volumes).

The doubts are as substantial as the evidence, but just as putting together the exhibit is a matter of some maneuvering, so, too, is the Rijksmuseum's final, official word on those works. Such debates (including one that even Raes, unfortunately, isn't allowed to record) make Close to Vermeer a thoughtful insider's look at the necessary passion and diplomacy of examining art.

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