Vermeer and the fascination of letters: three masterpieces by the Dutch master on display at the Frick Collection

In New York City, the Frick Collection reopens to visitors on April 17, 2025 after building renovations at 1 East 70th Street, and to inaugurate its new special exhibition galleries, from June 18 to September 8, 2025, it will host an exhibition dedicated to Johannes Vermeer that will bring together three masterpieces by the Dutch master in a single gallery. Vermeer’s Love Letters, this is the title of the exhibition curated by Robert Fucci, a scholar of 17th-century Dutch art at the University of Amsterdam, will have as its centerpiece Mistress and Maid, a painting belonging to the Frick Collection, which will be joined by The Love Letter from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and Lady Writing a Letter, with Her Maid from the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin.

The exhibition will provide an opportunity to explore the way Vermeer depicted epistolary writing and letter exchange in 17th-century domestic contexts, a recurring theme in his works.

Vermeer and the Fascination of Letters

The exhibition focuses on the epistolary theme, an element that Vermeer and his contemporaries used to investigate the emotions and inner lives of the subjects depicted. Among the more than 30 works that still exist today by the painter, six deal with this theme. The three works that will be brought together in the exhibition emphasize Vermeer’s particular focus on women portrayed in their domestic sphere: ladies and their maids. Through writing, reading, and delivering letters, Vermeer explores the dynamics of trust and relationships between these two social classes. These themes will therefore be explored in the literary and artistic context of Vermeer’s time.

In addition to the works in the exhibition, visitors will be able to view two other masterpieces by the painter in the museum’s permanent collection, namely Officer and Laughing Girl and Girl Interrupted at Her Music.

“On the heels of the museum’s reopening to the public on April 17, we are inaugurating our new special exhibition galleries with a closer look at the work of Vermeer, one of the most famous artists in our collection. His Mistress and Maid is the last masterpiece Henry Clay Frick acquired before his death. This inaugural exhibition is also a tribute to his legacy as a collector,” said Xavier F. Salomon, deputy director of the Frick Colection.

The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Jasmine Charity Trust, in memory of Regina Jaglom Wachter.

Vermeer and the fascination of letters: three masterpieces by the Dutch master on display at the Frick Collection

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