Ticket Lottery Sales Begin for Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” Exhibition in Osaka

The Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, The Asahi Shimbun Company, and Asahi Television Broadcasting have begun a ticket lottery sale today, July 14, for the “Vermeer: Girl with a Pearl Earring” exhibition.

Rather than offering first-come, first-served general sales for the initially planned first through third periods, regular tickets for the entire exhibition period will be sold by lottery through Ticket Pia from July 14 to 21. While no same-day tickets will be sold, additional lottery sales may be held through Ticket Pia depending on sales conditions and other factors.

Ticket Pia held an advance lottery in June, and a resale service will also be available for tickets purchased through both the advance and general lotteries. Although advance sales were held through tabiwa on June 15, a large number of people were unable to purchase tickets due to heavy website traffic.

On display will be the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s masterpiece “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and his early work “Diana and Her Nymphs,” as well as Jan Steen’s “As the Old Sing, So Pipe the Young,” Paulus Potter’s “Cows Reflected in the Water,” and Maria van Oosterwijck’s “Flowers in an Ornamental Vase.”

All of the works are in the collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague, the Netherlands, and two of the museum’s three Vermeer paintings will be exhibited. The exhibition in Japan has been made possible because the Mauritshuis will temporarily close for renovation work. It will be the first visit to Japan by “Girl with a Pearl Earring” in 14 years, since the 2012 “Mauritshuis Museum Exhibition.” Martine Gosselink, Director of the Mauritshuis, commented, “This journey of the ‘Girl’ is a special opportunity—perhaps the last—to bring her to everyone in Japan.”

The “Vermeer: Girl with a Pearl Earring” exhibition will be held at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, from August 21 through September 27. Opening hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.