The Dutch Are Going Wild for A Reality TV Show where Artists Compete to Paint Vermeer’s Lost Masterpieces The show coincides with the Rijksmuseum’s blockbuster Vermeer exhibition. Maudy Alferink and Nard Kwast in The New Vermeer (foto Omroep MAX) Fail to snag tickets to the sold out, once in a lifetime Johannes Vermeer exhibition at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum? There’s also a new reality series on Dutch television, in which contestants compete to create paintings that could pass for the work of the Golden Age master. Titled The New Vermeer (De Nieuwe Vermeer in Dutch), the six episode series premiered on February 12, two days after the blockbuster museum show, and has been an immediate hit. Hosted by Dionne Stax, the pilot episode drew 1.3 million viewers, over seven and a half percent of the nation’s 17 million population. The finale will air March 19. “This program scores better than most of the other programs we broadcast, documentaries and drama series included,” Jan Slagter, chief executive the program’s network, Omroep MAX, told the New York Times. “What’s important is that it’s about art and culture, but that it’s made in a very accessible way.” The international buzz about the museum blockbuster is doubtless … Meer lezen over Sarah Cascone – The Dutch Are Going Wild for A Reality TV Show where Artists Compete to Paint Vermeer’s Lost Masterpieces