Today Google Arts & Culture and the Mauritshuis launch Meet Vermeer, the first ever international online retrospective of Johannes Vermeer’s paintings, made in collaboration with 17 cultural partners across Europe and the United States. The highlight is the Pocket Gallery: a virtual exhibition including all of the Dutch Old Master’s works in a new Google Arts & culture app that uses augmented reality. A dream for Vermeer fans worldwide.
The 'Meet Vermeer' project
Pocket Gallery is a completely new augmented reality experience on the Google Arts & Culture app that transforms any smartphone into a portal to a virtual exhibition. All 36 of Vermeer’s works appear in a Pocket Gallery show that was curated by Mauritshuis experts. Vermeer’s paintings appear life-sized and perfectly illuminated in the virtual space, including the masterpiece Girl with the Pearl Earring (1665-1667) from the Mauritshuis.
Street View
Google Arts & Culture has also collected Street View photography in the museums to complement the virtual Pocket Gallery experience. Users can navigate through the corridors of The Frick Collection (New York), the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam) and various other museums to see how Vermeer's paintings hang when they are in their home institutions. Even British Queen Elizabeth II opened the doors of her Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace for the 'Meet Vermeer' project.
YouTube Creators
In addition to paintings, Meet Vermeer includes documents that shed light on Vermeer’s life, of which we know little. The project also includes stories that provide insight into the legacy of the Dutch master, such as a contribution by Tracy Chevalier, the author of the bestseller Girl with a Pearl Earring. And finally, users can watch various videos by YouTuber Creators like Today I Found Out. He visits the Dutch windmill that produced paint for Vermeer almost 400 years ago.
