In 2023, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam hosted a monumental exhibition of Johannes Vermeer, showcasing 28 of the 35 masterpieces attributed to the enigmatic Dutch painter. Drawing on his own visit to this historic show, artist Joe Fig created 16 new paintings. In these works premiering in Contemplating Vermeer, Fig not only pays homage to the seventeenth-century painter’s mastery of light, color, and verisimilitude, but also reflects on the aesthetic experience in the Rijksmuseum’s galleries. Expanding on his decade-long Contemplation series, he captures his subjects—artworks and their viewers—and their surroundings, exploring how people engage with or contemplate artworks in public spaces.

Though Fig’s paintings may resemble snapshots of what he observed, they are the result of a layered artistic process involving numerous formal artistic decisions. He begins by studying individual artworks and the viewers who are deeply engrossed in them. He focuses on people’s body language, clothing (particularly colors and patterns), and proximity to the works and each other, as well as the specificities of the space. Fig photographs these moments as source material, then digitally reconfigures the images in his studio—selecting and repositioning figures, adjusting scale, combining different scenes, and fine-tuning lighting and color. The final compositions, meticulously rendered in oil, reflect Fig’s contemplation of the act of looking, both his own and that of others. Each work distills what it means to be a painter.

With a keen eye for detail, Fig both contemplates Vermeer and invites us to see the Dutch master’s legacy through a fresh artistic lens. His work allows us to marvel at his uncanny realism, while prompting us to examine our own act of seeing. It heightens our awareness of our role as viewers—whether we seek to be fooled, enthralled, or carried away by art. Because his paintings serve as a contemplative reflection on how we encounter art, they draw us into a long tradition of those who have stood in awe before Vermeer’s work.
Fig’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is housed in numerous museums, including Fogg Art Museum, Chazen Museum of Art, Norton Museum of Art, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Toledo Museum of Art among others. Author of the acclaimed books Inside the Painter’s Studio and Inside the Artist’s Studio, Fig is the Department Chair of both the Fine Arts and the Visual Studies programs at Ringling College of Art and Design. He earned his BFA and MFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York, and is represented by Cristin Tierney Gallery, New York.

This exhibition is organized by Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College of Art and Design, curated by Rangsook Yoon, Ph.D., senior curator, Sarasota Art Museum.