Only moments ago I received a text message from my friend Tish who was sharing that she saw me on CBS News! It was footage of me at the High Museum of Art at the Media Day preview of Girl with a Pearl Earring.
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| Girl with a Pearl Earring, High Museum of Art, Atlanta |
That was the first time I'd ever seen her. She lives in Mauritshuis (pronounced "mauritz-house"), a 17th Century city palace in The Hague that's currently undergoing renovation and expansion, thus the opportunity to have her in the U.S.—for the first time in 17 years.
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| Girl with a Pearl Earring, Mauritshuis, High Museum of Art, Atlanta |
I also went to last night's Friday Jazz (a fantastic program that I highly recommend attending), with several other friends, and got to see her again. And once again...I was blown away! The exhibition is beyond remarkable and Girl with a Pearl Earring is spectacular—a word that just doesn't do her justice.
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| Girl with a Pearl Earring, High Museum of Art, Atlanta |
There's so much to share about this exhibition, but I'll leave most of it to your own visit.
The exhibition, "Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis", of course features the title painting, but also includes 35 other Dutch Masters paintings, including four works by Rembrandt. There are videos, an audio tour, a room that features the expansion of Mauritshuis, and some excellent programming coming up including discussions and three showings of the film, Girl with a Pearl Earring starring Scarlett Johansson.
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Interior of an Imaginary Catholic Church,
High Museum of Art, Atlanta |
My personal favorite painting in the exhibition, after the title painting of course, is "Interior of an Imaginary Catholic Church" (1668, Emmanuel de Witte). The cool thing about this painting is that in the 17th Century, there were no large Catholic churches...this painting was a hoped-for large Gothic Catholic church. It probably wouldn't be too far fetched to say that paintings back then had what we know today as the "Power of Hollywood".
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| Girl with a Pearl Earring, High Museum of Art, Atlanta |
To give you an idea of why you don't want to miss this exhibition, it was at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum last year, with a few extra paintings, and it was the most visited exhibition IN THE WORLD in 2012. If that doesn't tell you how incredible it is, I'm not sure what will. Just go see it!
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| Girl with a Pearl Earring, High Museum of Art, Atlanta |
When you visit Girl with a Pearl Earring, please make time to read the placards...there's some fascinating information about the painting...about all the paintings in the exhibition. Ten years in the making, I've been calling this exhibition "brilliant", and indeed it is.
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| Girl with a Pearl Earring, High Museum of Art, Atlanta |
I've not yet done the audio tour, but that's what I'm going to recommend. I learned so much about the exhibition on Media Day that I was able to play "tour guide" for my friends last night, but I know there's so much more to know about the exhibition—much of that undoubtedly on the audio tour.
See the Girl with a Pearl Earring in this photo? On Media Day, there were three docents in the gallery and each had hand fans with her face on them...rather clever, don't you think?
This particular painting depicts several generations of the same family and is sharing the sage advice to be wary of your actions because your children will do what you do. It's a fascinating piece and you totally get it when you see it.
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| Girl with a Pearl Earring, High Museum of Art, Atlanta |
The official opening of Girl with a Pearl Earring is tomorrow, Sunday, June 23, 2013. And it's a short run, closing on Sunday, September 29. She has only three stops in the United States—was just in San Francisco and goes to New York City from here—and it could easily be another 17 years before she comes back...so don't miss this opportunity!
And be sure to check out the programming associated with this exhibition...they're having some great fun!
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