Center for Netherlandish Art Student Session with Pieter Roelofs and Abbie Vandivere

Are you an undergraduate or graduate student interested in learning about exciting projects and possible career paths in the field of Dutch and Flemish art? Designed by students for students, Center for Netherlandish Art (CNA) Student Sessions connect you with various experts in Netherlandish art and history and give you a chance to engage in conversation with them in an informal setting.

Sessions are guided by student concerns and questions, prompting experts to reflect on their current work as well as their academic, personal, and professional journeys. This unique forum gives local and international students the opportunity to connect with one another, opening new pathways for innovation, access, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

In this session, learn about the Rijksmuseum’s blockbuster “Vermeer” exhibition from Pieter Roelofs and hear from Abbie Vandivere about her role as a conservator, including on her work with Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring.

About the Speakers

Pieter Roelofs is head of Fine and Decorative Arts at the Rijksmuseum. He is cocurator of the Rijksmuseum’s 2023 exhibition “Vermeer” and a team member on “Operation Night Watch,” the largest research and conservation project to date for Rembrandt’s The Night Watch.

Dr. Abbie Vandivere is a paintings conservator at the Mauritshuis. In 2018 she was the head researcher for “The Girl in the Spotlight,” a project examining Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring.

In 2023 Roelofs and Vandivere served together as judges and experts on the Dutch reality TV program De Nieuwe Vermeer.

Previous guest speakers have included Professor Hanneke Grootenboer, chair of the History of Art department at Radboud University; Carrie Anderson, Professor of Art and Architectural History at Middlebury College; and Jessie Park, Nina and Lee Griggs Assistant Curator of European Art at the Yale University Art Gallery.

The 2022–23 season of Student Sessions is organized by Rachel Kase and Sarah Mallory, with support from the Center for Netherlandish Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The Founders of the Center for Netherlandish Art at the MFA are Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo and Susan and Matthew Weatherbie.