Revisiting Vermeer: The 20th Anniversary of the 1995 Blockbuster Exhibition at the National Gallery of Art

The exhibition endured two government shutdowns and a blizzard, but it did not deter more than 300,000 visitors to view 21 paintings from public and private collections around the world.  

Johannes Vermeer quickly became a sensation and drew extraordinary crowds, which stretched around the West Building.

Because of the popularity of the exhibition, free passes were required for admission at all times. Aside from advanced tickets an additional 2,500 tickets were handed out on a daily, first-come, first-serve basis. By the end of the show, people began camping out in the middle of the night to try to get one.

Once inside the exhibition space, crowds packed the galleries to get a glimpse of the masterpieces. For the number of visitors inside the galleries, the space was remarkably quiet as viewers gazed at Vermeer's works.

Numerous magazine articles, newspaper features, and other publications, worldwide, covered this landmark exhibition.

International broadcast media covered the unprecedented demand for seeing these masterpieces at the Gallery.

The subsequent works of fiction, poetry, movies, and even an opera, demonstrate the enormous impact of this exhibition.

On the final night of the exhibition, the Gallery hosted a party for the staff to thank them for their help making the show such a success, given the enormous demands on the institution due to the blizzard, crowds, and government shutdowns. As a token of gratitude, everyone was given this button.