Munich: The Alte Pinakothek has bought a painting by Jacobus Vrel. – Munich

The Alte Pinakothek has bought a painting by the painter Jacobus Vrel. Actually, an entire exhibition should be dedicated to him in Munich, but it is not enough for that. So it will remain a mystery in this country for a while.

Sometimes art historians work like detectives. In the Jacobus Vrel case, the trail they are following has been cold for nearly 400 years. Only after a thorough scientific color analysis has it become clear that the painter should not be confused with Johannes Vermeer. And that he did not copy his style from the great master of the Golden Age or another contemporary, but was more of a pioneer in the field of architectural representations.

The Munich curator Bernd Eberth initiated a joint project by three museums on the enigmatic painter. That was before the pandemic. Now there is no longer enough money and time for the planned exhibition in Munich. But at least a Vrel main work for the Alte Pinakothek could be bought with the help of the Ernst von Siemens Foundation: a “street scene with people in conversation” that was painted after 1633.

Within Vrel’s small oeuvre, which mainly consists of cityscapes and interior scenes, this painting is of particular importance. It is one of his earliest works, which the experts see as Vrel’s most complex architectural backdrop. The seemingly typical example of Dutch baroque painting differs from all architectural representations of that time and thus occupies an outstanding position within the collection.

The cross-border research project in the association of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen in Munich, the Fondation Custodia, Collection Frits Lugt in Paris and the Mauritshuis in The Hague as well as in cooperation with other international experts from different disciplines was also reflected in the first monograph with a catalog raisonné on Jacobus Vrel: ” Jacobus Vrel. In the footsteps of an enigmatic painter “, published in three language editions by Hirmer Verlag.

The matching, first monographic exhibition on Vrel had to be canceled in its first stop in Munich, but it will be on view in The Hague and Paris in 2023. In the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, Vrel’s “street scene” will be presented to the public for the first time in a focus presentation from October 12 to the end of February 2022.

There is also an extensive accompanying program: for example a film series in cooperation with “Kino der Kunst” and the Theatiner Filmtheater, readings by Jovita Dermota and a podcast series in cooperation with the University of Konstanz.

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