Mauritshuis receives thousands more Girls

25 Feb 2025

In response to its second open call, the Mauritshuis in The Hague received more than 2700 new interpretations of Vermeer’s iconic masterpiece Girl with a Pearl Earring. “We are amazed and overwhelmed,”, says director Martine Gosselink, “not only by the number but above all by the quality of the entries. Our masterpiece clearly remains a source of inspiration to people around the world.” Sixty selected ‘new Girls’ will be shown in the foyer of the Mauritshuis from 25 February, presented in a 3D-printed frame, a precise copy of the original.

From a beautiful painting of a wayang puppet to an earring, a child’s drawing and a plate of fruit; from a cute felt mouse to photographs, short videos and extraordinary artworks created with AI. Just a few examples of all the different interpretations that have been flooding in. A jury assessed all the entries, and chose a mix of lovely, surprising, witty and original works. The second open call was prompted by #mygirlwithapearl – The Immersive Edition, which has been showing at Fabrique des Lumières in Amsterdam, powered by Nationale-Nederlanden. “This co-production is a tribute to our Girl,” says Gosselink, “and we again asked visitors to produce art inspired by her. We also issued the call via our own channels. The results are now being shared with visitors at a prominent spot in the foyer.”

Een selectie van 10 inzendingen van de #mygirlwithapearl open call uit 2025

Special tribute

In 2023, by way of great exception, the iconic Girl with a Pearl Earring left her home at the Mauritshuis to spend six weeks at the Rijksmuseum, as part of its major Vermeer exhibition. This prompted our first call for people to submit their own interpretations of the famous painting. A selection of the entries were shown at the spot where the Girl normally hangs while she was away from home. But creative interpretations continued to flood in on Instagram via @mygirlwithapearl, so we came up with the idea of a follow-up, an audiovisual immersive experience at Lumières in Amsterdam, plus a new call for entries.