Kenwood House in London has opened a new display, "Double Vision: Vermeer" (1 September 2025 – 11 January 2026), pairing Vermeer's "The Guitar Player" (1672) from its own collection with its mysterious "twin," "Lady with a Guitar," on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The exhibition reignites a century-old debate over which painting is the original, as the Philadelphia version has long been questioned since the Kenwood version emerged in 1927. Recent scientific analysis reveals differences in ground layers and pigment use—the Kenwood painting features ultramarine while the Philadelphia version uses cheaper indigo—and experts like former Rijksmuseum specialist Gregor Weber suggest the Philadelphia work may be an early copy.
This display matters because it brings together two nearly identical Vermeer compositions for the first time, allowing the public and scholars to directly compare them and weigh evidence from both connoisseurship and scientific analysis. The ongoing research, involving the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, English Heritage, and the National Gallery in London, could reshape understanding of Vermeer's oeuvre and the authenticity of a painting that has been in storage for nearly a century. The exhibition deliberately avoids drawing conclusions, instead inviting visitors to engage with one of art history's enduring attribution puzzles.