How reality TV is bringing back Vermeer paintings that have been lost for centuries

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A reality TV show in the Netherlands is giving new life to old paintings, some of which have not been seen for hundreds of years.

Called The New VermeerThe hit series challenges artists to recreate six lost works by 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer.

Vermeer is one of the most famous Dutch artists of all time, but only about three dozen of his paintings are known. Six others are missing – one was stolen from a museum decades ago, and the others are known only from brief descriptions written from inventories or auction records at the time of his death in 1675.

“This has never been seen before,” artist Maudy Alferink, a contestant on the show’s first episode, told As it happens hosted by Nil Köksal. “It’s just a piece of paper – a small sentence – with information.”

Small sentences are everything The New Vermeer contestants must pass when they can re-imagine the masterpiece from scratch.

6 missing paintings, 6 episodes

The six-episode series opened on February 12, and it has been a huge hit in the Netherlands, said Josse van Rhee, spokesman for Omroep MAX, the channel that broadcasts it.

Each of the three episodes that have aired so far has seen viewers between 1.2 million and 1.3 million, he said. The Netherlands has a population of 17.5 million people.

The launch of the event coincides with the opening of an exhibition at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam featuring 28 Vermeers – the largest collection of the artist’s work ever to be displayed. The exhibition has sold out.

A man sits painting at the end of a hallway in a sunlit room.
Artist Nard Kwast is working on a recreation of Vermeer. (Broadcaster MAX)

Every episode of The New Vermeer pitting two artists against each other to recreate the same work.

He got four months to create the piece, and during the process he was able to consult experts and curators who trained him on Vermeer’s style and technique, as well as accurate materials, props and settings.

For Alferink – a self-taught painter – taking this opportunity was a no-brainer.

“This is how I taught myself to paint. I looked at Caravaggio, Vermeer, Rembrandt, all the classic masters… and now I have the opportunity to be with all these specialists,” he said.

“It was so special that I didn’t have to think twice.”

In the first episode, Alferink competes with artist Nard Kwast.

He always had a passion for the works of the old masters, he said, and had a lot of experience making reproductions of their works – even though there was no point of reference before.

This time, what should be followed is a description that roughly translates to: Prince washes his hands in a room with other figures.

Kwast said he started by doing his homework. He studied the artist’s work intensively, in books and museums, asking himself: What makes Vermeer Vermeer?

“I have to really dive into this,” he said.

A woman with blue braided hair shows something to men and women, as a third woman stands off to the side holding up a blank canvas.
Alferink, center left, and Nard Kwast, center right, prepare to create masterpieces re-imagined. (Broadcaster MAX)

Kwast said he always admired Vermeer for his precision, the way he worked with light, and his ability to depict quiet, still moments.

But through the show, he was able to observe in detail how the artist improved himself and perfected his technique throughout his career.

“I appreciate his work even more now after this whole program,” he said. “It’s genius what he does. It’s also skillful. But there’s also something special about him.”

Two hyper-realistic oil paintings side by side. Both have a bright pink background. To the left, a smiling woman in a cowboy hat holds a purse that looks like a heart-shaped pillow, with writing on it. "Delete My Number" embroidery on. To the right, a woman in chunky heels and a light pink raincoat sits on a block and spreads her legs.
Two oil paintings by Alferink – Delete My Number, left, and Manspread, right – show a hyper-realistic style, which he says is useful when trying to imitate Vermeer. (Posted by Maudy Alferink)

mysterious relationship

In the end, the two artists created the same scene where a girl washes the lord’s hands while another woman looks from behind. Specific details differ, but both paintings show the relationship – or perhaps the tension – between the three characters.

An oil painting hangs on the wall in a gold frame. It shows a man in a nice hat having his hands washed by a worried looking girl using an old jug and bowl. In the foreground on the table with a bowl of lemons. Behind him, a woman entered the room carrying a bowl of peaches.
Alferink’s recreation of Vermeer’s Lost uses peaches and lemons to tell the story. (DeNieuweVermeer.nl)

Alferink does this through symbolism, the painting of lemons on the table, and the servant woman entering the room with a basket of peaches.

“Lemons, they mean it’s like sour love or like love that has gone wrong. And peaches, they mean sensuality and fruitfulness,” said Alferink. “So there’s a storyline between the three of them there and … as an audience, you’re trying to figure out what’s going on.”

An oil painting in the style of 17th-century artist Johannes Vermeer shows a well-dressed man standing at a table covered with food while a maid washes her hands using old pitchers and bowls. He was looking for a woman in a green dress holding a letter.
Kwast said he gave Vermeer a hint and a nod to the artist’s history. (Posted by Nard Kwast)

In Kwast’s version, instead of peaches, the woman carries a letter. The girl who washed the lord’s hands seemed to know, almost as if warning: “Perhaps this is not the right time to come here,” she said.

“I want to create tension between these people,” Kwast said. “Honestly, I made this painting, but I’m not sure what happened. But I know something happened. And I like it better. [if it was] very clear.”

Making art accessible

Both Alferink and Kwast were blown away by all the attention they were getting.

“It was, to me, a little bleak,” Kwast said. “I really feel proud.”

Alferink hopes it will help introduce more people not only to Vermeer’s work, but to the art world in general. Already, he says he receives emails from people inspired by the show to paint.

“I hope it motivates me to visit more museums,” he said. “I really hope so.”

The New Vermeer not available for viewing in Canada, but the accompanying web series, Master class, is on YouTube. Anyone can listen to the digital version of the Rijksmuseum exhibition here.

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