Leseprobe

25 so too does the subtle differentiation of relative distance. The paintings form a hierarchi- cal ensemble. That those five paintings, centred on the Vermeer, form a coherent group is stressed by their being framed by the doorway into their gallery when viewed from the adjacent gallery. From further back, that doorway frames the Vermeer alone, but on either side of that doorway are further paintings that from this more distant vantage point accompany the Vermeer and set it off. This arrangement doubles the device of flanking the Vermeer with ostensibly less important paintings, reinforcing its position within the display as being at the very top of this local hierarchy. Try as viewers might, they cannot consistently and sustainedly see the Vermeer as an isolated thing. The experienced and scholarly curator, Jochen Sander, has taken this into account. The company the Geographer keeps is specially chosen tomake points concerning the character of seventeenth-century Dutch painting, and a hierarchy within it. The contrivance of such displays is one respon- sibility of curatorship. In exhibits, curators deliberately bring out particular aspects of things through positioning, mounting, juxtaposition, lighting, and the choice of wall colour and casework. The display centred on the Geographer in Frankfurt is an exposition of art historical ideas about seventeenth-century Dutch painting. But there are other ways of displaying paintings. One collecting institution that stands out for its unusual mode of display is the Barnes Foundation, founded in 1922 in Lower Merion in suburban Philadelphia, but, since 2012, in a new downtown exhibition facility. Albert Barnes conceived of his collection as an Figure 2: Installation shot of Johannes Vermeer, The Geographer and other paintings. Frankfurt, Städel Museum.