A Dutch museum found a creative way to inspire new art. In a call for entries, the Mauritshuis asked the public to reimagine a certain pearl-centric 17th-century masterpiece. The wide-ranging results may surprise and delight you.
Mauritshuis is a government-owned art museum located in The Hague, the Netherlands. The museum is perhaps best known for being home to Johannes Vermeer’s 1665 Girl with a Pearl Earring.
In 2023, officials loaned “the Girl,” as the work is commonly called, to another museum. The oil painting was part of an exhibit of works by Vermeer. Suddenly, Mauritshuis found itself with a void on the wall.
Museum officials decided to invite artists to reimagine the painting. Anyone could submit a version of the Girl in any medium. Exceptional entries would appear in the space normally occupied by the famous Vermeer.
Mauritshuis received over 3,400 entries from around the world. Artists ages seven to 70 gathered fruit, buttons, bottle caps, fabric, rocks, balloons, stained glass, and more to create their own “girls.” There were photographs, toys, assemblages, drawings, and LEGO scenes. There were images of women sporting various ear adornments from seashells to earbuds. The contest was so successful that the museum held a second round of submissions last year and received another 2,700 works.
South Korean artist Nanan Kang used an ear of corn for her girl’s face, with husks as headscarf. Georgian artist Nino Kavazauri reimagined a modern girl waiting at a bus stop with a cup of coffee. Simon Chong, a Welsh animator, created a bulging-eyed, cartoon-style girl.
Artist Rob de Heer evoked history with his girl. He wanted to blend the Golden Age history of the Netherlands—the time of Vermeer—with the country’s colonial legacy. He did so by combining Vermeer’s Girl with a Wayang puppet. Wayang is a traditional form of theater in Indonesia. The Netherlands controlled parts of that area until 1949.
Today, some recent girls are displayed in the Mauritshuis lobby in exact 3-D-printed replicas of the Girl’s frame. Meanwhile, a selection of other submissions have a separate run at an arts center in Amsterdam.
Mauritshuis museum also features works on its Instagram page and website. And “submissions continue to come,” says Martine Gosselink, director of Mauritshuis. “It will never end with her.”
What about the Girl evokes such esteem? Art connoisseurs cite the work’s simplicity, soft lighting, and mysterious expression. When humans respond to beauty in music, art, or poetry, they may be reacting in a way God designed. But earthly splendors are mere shadows that point to Him from whom all blessings—and beauty—flow.
Why? God created humans to respond to beauty with appreciation—and sometimes imitation. Our admiration ultimately belongs to the One who created beauty and who enables us to respond to it.
Recommended Reading: For more on this piece and many more, see Vermeer: The Complete Works by Karl Schutz.
