IN AMSTERDAM, a very special ‘once in a lifetime’ exhibition (10 February to 4 June 2023) is attracting artists and art lovers to the city. The Rijksmuseum is holding its first-ever solo show of works by the Delft-born, Dutch master Johannes Vermeer (1632-75) and a rare display of twenty-eight of the thirty-seven known paintings are shown together for the first time. Of the known works, twenty-four are signed, and four are dated. New research into the material creation of these artworks, and Vermeer’s life, has been carried out during the eight years undertaken to produce this show. Such is the demand for entry tickets that opening times have been extended to accommodate the volume of visitors with over 100,000 tickets sold weeks before its opening. The Rijksmuseum has never before received such a pre-opening demand.
