"The Duet" tours the world

With the exhibition "Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting. Inspiration and Rivalry" The Duet by Frans van Mieris travels the world. The first station is Musée du Louvre in Paris followed by the National Gallery Ireland, Dublin, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. The painting by the great Dutch genre painter from 1658 represents the Staatliche Museum Schwerin / Ludwigslust / Güstrow worldwide.

The title of the exhibition points at the influence that the leading genre painters of the Golden Age had on Dutch paintings and the network of relationships between Johannes Vermeer, Frans van Mieris, Gerard ter Borch, Gabriel Metsu and others. They observed the innovations of their colleagues very precisely. However, there were not really influencing each other, but rather had an artistic dialogue or even a multi-voice discussion.

The Duet by Frans van Mieris the Elder is one of these top works. The musicians and especially the beautifully dressed lady at the harpsichord were taken as a model and Vermeer, Jan Steen and others created their own versions of it. The Schwerin work of art will be on display at all three stations of this exhibition. The world tour lasts for a whole year; The Duet will not return until February 2018 to Gallery of Old & New Masters.

Exhibitions
20 February - 22 May 2017
Musée du Louvre, Paris

17 June - 17 September 2017
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

22 October 2017 - 21 January 2018
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC