The Rijksmuseum’s historic exhibit of paintings by Johannes Vermeer has proven so popular that it has overwhelmed the museum’s extended-into-the-evening hours. For its last weekend, June 2nd and 3rd, the museum will be open until 2 a.m.
The exhibit, which features 27 of Vermeer’s 37 known works, including one whose attribution is still controversial, has drawn so many ticket requests that the ticketing website has occasionally crashed, and the museum had to temporarily stop selling new memberships in its Friends organization when thousands applied in order to get easier access to tickets.
There has been a lottery to select who will be able to buy tickets when each new batch becomes available; the last drawing is today. There are 2600 extra tickets in the final batch, made possible by changing the last entrance to the exhibit from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., with closing at 2 a.m.
The exhibit opened in February, and at that time included Vermeer’s most famous painting, the Girl With a Pearl Earring. That picture was only on an 8-week loan and has returned to its home at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague.
