Overview: The Art of Painting by Johannes Vermeer was on loan from the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, after nearly four years of conservation treatment. It was installed with four paintings from the Gallery's permanent collection: Vermeer's Woman Holding a Balance, A Lady Writing, and Girl with the Red Hat; and Girl with a Flute, attributed to Vermeer. The Art of Painting could not be included in the 1995-1996 exhibition Johannes Vermeer because of its fragile paint structure at the time. It was last seen in the United States in the 1949-1950 exhibition Art Treasures from the Vienna Collections.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art and the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings at the National Gallery of Art, was the exhibition curator.

Sponsor: The exhibition was made possible by Juliet and Lee Folger/The Folger Fund.