Visitor numbers to Swedish museums have declined dramatically since the re-introduction of entrance fees in January this year. A survey by the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter compared visitor figures for 15 museums in January 2007 with the same month in 2006. This revealed a decrease of nearly 90,000 visitors to 183,000, from 272,300 the previous year—a substantial drop of 33%.

Read full article (The Art Newspaper, April 25, 2007)

On May 23 The Vermeer Centre will open its doors in the Dutch city of Delft. Johannes Vermeer is one of the best known artists from the Dutch Golden Age. His name is inextricably linked with Delft, the city in which he was born in 1632 and where he lived and worked all his life. The Vermeer Centre is housed on the historic site of the former St. Lucas Guild, where Vermeer was Dean of the painters for many years, and offers a visual voyage of discovery through the life, work and city of Johannes Vermeer. The visitor steps into 17th century Delft, sees samples from Vermeer’s oeuvre, goes in search of his mentor and the stories behind the paintings. In the studio, the visitor learns how Vermeer approached his work and about his mastery of light, composition and colour.

Although this is probably as close as you can get to the man who painted the Girl with the Pearl Earring, don’t expect to see any of his original works since all them reside in museum collections outside of Delft. In the Netherlands both the Rijksmuseum and the Mauritshuis own a painting that is permanently on display, so whenever you visit Delft the real Vermeer is only half an hour away.

Go to website Vermeer Centre Delft
Go to website Rijksmuseum
Go to website Mauritshuis