Newly Discovered Trove of Vermeer Works Reveals He Painted Mainly Dogs

While taking inventory successful mentation for an property merchantability successful Yorkshire County, England, a brace of agents stumbled upon an astonishing postulation of canine-inspired lipid paintings by Johannes Vermeer. Displacing David Hockney from the “dog art” pedestal, the agents uncovered 243 oil paintings featuring dogs arsenic subjects from the abstracted retention portion that sat untouched for decades connected the spot of a castle successful the municipality of Hawes. The unbelievable find explains wherefore determination were thought to beryllium truthful fewer works by Vermeer, arsenic lone immoderate 35 paintings were antecedently attributed to the artist.

Art conservators from the Rijksmuseum successful Amsterdam confirmed that each of the paintings were from the manus of the Dutch creator aft conducting worldly tests and analyzing the signatures successful verso. In an interrogation with Hyperallergic, 1 of the property merchantability agents said that they were inactive “breathless” from the find aft the paintings were attributed to Vermeer.

One of Vermeer’s sleeping canine paintings post-restoration

“We didn’t deliberation it was pawssible — ehm, possible, to uncover a trove similar this,” they said. “In a tiny colony and with the information that the store hadn’t been touched successful years, we expected to sift done rubbish that cipher wanted and flip everything successful the skip.”

While conservators astatine the Rijksmuseum enactment fastidiously to reconstruct the paintings that were kept successful dark, damp conditions for decades, they provided Hyperallergic with images of respective paintings successful the collection. One depicts a tiny achromatic canine sleeping beside a greenish solid bottle, apt dated betwixt 1670 and 1672. Another, which portrays a hunting canine wearing a pearl earring, is thought to beryllium related to Vermeer’s astir celebrated work, “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” (1665), a coating that experts present affirm was but a unsmooth survey for the canine masterpiece.

“Hunting Dog With a Pearl Earring” is present believed to beryllium Vermeer’s existent masterpiece.

Art historians present judge that Vermeer’s existent aspiration was to go a celebrated canine portraitist, and that his masterful grasp of airy and adept rendering of intimate home interiors were “just a broadside hustle,” affirmed Delft-based Vermeer specializer Aletta van der Poedel.

“There person been dogs successful his paintings earlier — sure,” van der Poedel told Hyperallergic arsenic the satellite tries to marque consciousness of these works. “Diana and her Companions” (c. 1653) shows a hunting dog with its backmost facing the viewer, and van der Poedel besides referenced the X-ray representation of Vermeer’s “A Maid Asleep” (1657) that shows a canine successful the doorway that the creator yet chose to screen up.

“But dogs person ne'er appeared arsenic superior subjects successful Vermeer’s paintings until now, I suppose,” van der Poedel continued. “Perhaps helium was drawn to the brushed prime and colour opposition successful the fur. He whitethorn person wanted to bring much attraction to canine domesticity by highlighting that softness.”

The find happens to coincide with the largest Vermeer retrospective successful past astatine the Rijksmuseum, which has been truthful fashionable that resale tickets are going for hundreds and adjacent thousands. A curator for the Amsterdam instauration confessed she was relieved the uncovering was made aft the works successful the accumulation were selected, arsenic “God lone knows however the lines would beryllium if radical had known Vermeer was a canine painter.”

Rhea Nayyar (she/her) is simply a New York-based teaching creator who is passionate astir elevating number perspectives wrong the world and editorial spheres of the creation world. Rhea received her BFA successful Visual... More by Rhea Nayyar