Joe Fig knew that it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. In 2023, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam was holding the biggest museum exhibition of the year—a blockbuster showing of the works of legendary Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, the most complete collection of Vermeer’s works ever displayed. Fig, who is a nationally exhibited artist and author in his own right, as well as the Department Chair of the Fine Arts and Visual Studies programs at Ringling College of Art and Design, had to go. Fig’s attendance, however, was more than just the chance to see a once in a lifetime show. It was a research trip as well, informing his latest exhibition Joe Fig: Contemplating Vermeer, set to debut this November at Sarasota Art Museum (SAM). “Joe is an absolutely great painter and paints these amazing, small paintings that have miniature paintings within them. His Contemplating series is really a voyeuristic series where he travels to galleries, museums and openings, documents people looking at art and then paints from the photos that he takes,” says Virginia Shearer, Executive Director of SAM. “We will probably never in our lifetimes have all of these Vermeer paintings in one place again. Joe’s paintings are exquisite, little love letters to Vermeer, his light, his drapery and the way that people are just riveted to his works.”
— D. Campbell Sarasota Art Museum 1001 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941-309-4300, sarasotaartmuseum.org.
