28 Vermeers

What does the Rijksmuseum’s landmark Vermeer exhibition tell us about museums, copyright and digital collections today?

Vermeer is a major exhibition of the artist’s work at the Rijksmuseum that brings Vermeers from around the world to Amsterdam. A total of twenty eight works, from fourteen institutions, feature in the exhibition. These are helpfully itemised on the Rijksmuseum’s website, alongside a digital display with images of every painting in the show.

For students of copyright, art history and digital cultural heritage, Vermeer is an excellent opportunity to evaluate the exhibited works through the lens of open access. Let’s take a look.

Which Vermeers are in the exhibition? Which institutions do they come from?

Artwork	Institution	Country
Girl Interrupted at Her Music, c. 1659–61	Frick Collection	U.S.A
Mistress and Maid, c. 1665–67	Frick Collection	U.S.A
Officer and Laughing Girl, 1657-58	Frick Collection	U.S.A
Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, 1657-58	Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister	Germany
The Procuress, 1656	Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister	Germany
Young Woman Seated at a Virginal, c. 1670‐72	Leiden Collection	U.S.A
Diana and her Nymphs, 1655–56	Mauritshuis	Netherlands
Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1664–67	Mauritshuis	Netherlands
View of Delft, 1660-61	Mauritshuis	Netherlands
Allegory of the Catholic Faith, 1670–74	Metropolitan Museum of Art	U.S.A
Young Woman with a Lute, 1662–64	Metropolitan Museum of Art	U.S.A
The Lacemaker, 1666–68	Musée du Louvre	France
Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, 1654–55	National Galleries of Scotland	United Kingdom
A Lady Writing, 1664–67	National Gallery of Art, Washington	U.S.A
Girl with a Flute, 1664–67	National Gallery of Art, Washington	U.S.A
Girl with the Red Hat, 1664–67	National Gallery of Art, Washington	U.S.A
Woman Holding a Balance, c. 1662–64	National Gallery of Art, Washington	U.S.A
Woman Writing a Letter with her Maid, 1670–72	National Gallery of Ireland	Ireland
A Young Woman seated at a Virginal, c. 1670–72	National Gallery, London	United Kingdom
A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, 1670–72	National Gallery, London	United Kingdom
Saint Praxedis, 1655	National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo	Japan
The Love Letter, 1669-70	Rijksmuseum	Netherlands
The Milkmaid, 1658-59	Rijksmuseum	Netherlands
View of Houses in Delft, 1658-59	Rijksmuseum	Netherlands
Woman Reading a Letter, 1662-64	Rijksmuseum	Netherlands
The Glass of Wine, c. 1659-61	Staatliche Museen zu Berlin	Germany
Woman with a Pearl Necklace, c. 1662-64	Staatliche Museen zu Berlin	Germany
The Geographer, 1669	Städel Museum	Germany

Which institutions claim copyright in digital reproductions of their Vermeers? Which institutions don’t, or waive copyright? Which rights statements and licences do they apply?

Artwork	Institution	© claim?	Rights statement
Girl Interrupted at Her Music, c. 1659–61	Frick Collection	Yes	In copyright
Mistress and Maid, c. 1665–67	Frick Collection	Yes	In copyright
Officer and Laughing Girl, 1657-58	Frick Collection	Yes	In copyright
Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, 1657-58	Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister	Yes	In copyright
The Procuress, 1656	Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister	Yes	In copyright
Young Woman Seated at a Virginal, c. 1670‐72	Leiden Collection	Yes	CC BY-NC*
Diana and her Nymphs, 1655–56	Mauritshuis	No	Public Domain Mark
Girl with a Pearl Earring, 1664–67	Mauritshuis	No	Public Domain Mark
View of Delft, 1660-61	Mauritshuis	No	Public Domain Mark
Allegory of the Catholic Faith, 1670–74	Metropolitan Museum of Art	No	CC0
Young Woman with a Lute, 1662–64	Metropolitan Museum of Art	No	CC0
The Lacemaker, 1666–68	Musée du Louvre	Yes	In copyright
Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, 1654–55	National Galleries of Scotland	Yes	CC BY-NC
A Lady Writing, 1664–67	National Gallery of Art, Washington	No	CC0
Girl with a Flute, 1664–67	National Gallery of Art, Washington	No	CC0
Girl with the Red Hat, 1664–67	National Gallery of Art, Washington	No	CC0
Woman Holding a Balance, c. 1662–64	National Gallery of Art, Washington	No	CC0
Woman Writing a Letter with her Maid, 1670–72	National Gallery of Ireland	Yes	In copyright
A Young Woman seated at a Virginal, c. 1670–72	National Gallery, London	Yes	CC BY-NC-ND
A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, 1670–72	National Gallery, London	Yes	CC BY-NC-ND
Saint Praxedis, 1655	National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo	Yes	In copyright
The Love Letter, 1669-70	Rijksmuseum	No	CC0
The Milkmaid, 1658-59	Rijksmuseum	No	CC0
View of Houses in Delft, 1658-59	Rijksmuseum	No	CC0
Woman Reading a Letter, 1662-64	Rijksmuseum	No	CC0
The Glass of Wine, c. 1659-61	Staatliche Museen zu Berlin	Yes	CC BY-NC-SA
Woman with a Pearl Necklace, c. 1662-64	Staatliche Museen zu Berlin	Yes	CC BY-NC-SA
The Geographer, 1669	Städel Museum	No	Public Domain Mark

Let’s see a visualisation of the Vermeer rights statements and licences

Which institutions participating in Vermeer have open access policies? Which ones don’t?

Open access	Closed access
Mauritshuis	Frick Collection
Metropolitan Museum of Art	Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
National Gallery of Art, Washington	Leiden Collection
Rijksmuseum	Musée du Louvre
Städel Museum	National Gallery, London
	National Gallery of Ireland
	National Galleries of Scotland
	National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
	Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

In all of the national jurisdictions in which the museums lending to Vermeer are based, copyright protection lasts for 70 years after the death of the creator. Johannes Vermeer died on 15 December 1675 – more than 347 years ago – yet copyright is claimed in digital reproductions of his work by the majority of the institutions involved in the Vermeer exhibition.

Despite the increasing international harmonisation and clarification of the relevant copyright law, and the growth in open access practice (also known as Open GLAM) in the cultural sector, many museums persist in restricting access to images of public domain works by using questionable copyright claims. In this respect, Vermeer is a representative sample of the wider picture today.

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To see the raw data upon which this article is based, here is an openly accessible Google Sheet.