The Art of Picking: Girl with a Pearl Earring by Po Yun Wang

Not your average “pick me girl”, Po Yun Wang is adding another iconic character into the Art of Picking series. Who is that girl I see? Joining Mona Lisa in this series, it’s none other than the Girl with a Pearl Earring!

Staying true to the nonchalant gaze, well-fed silhouette and nose-picking gesture synonymous with Po Yun Wang’s works, the captivating Girl with a Pearl Earring has been given a new life, transforming into a more relatable character (psst, we all do it). 

So... What do we know about the Girl with a Pearl Earring?

Despite being one of the most recognized masterpieces of all time, not much is known about this timeless piece by Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer. For instance, who is the Girl with a Pearl Earring? No one knows exactly who she is but some believe that it was Maria Vermeer, the daughter of Johannes Vermeer, who posed for the painter. Seems like her identity will continue to remain a mystery!

The painting did not gain popularity immediately. 

This piece was actually lost for 200 years before a collector bought it for 2 Guilders (approximately USD$1.11 today) and realized it was painted by Johannes Vermeer after it had been cleaned. It was then donated to the Mauritshuis in The Hague where the Girl with a Pearl Earring has been residing ever since.

The Girl with a Pearl Earring was not the only name for this piece

The painting has also been called Girl In A Turban, Head Of Girl In A Turban, The Young Girl With Turban, and Head of a Young Girl. The Girl with a Pearl Earring 

Extremely expensive and high-quality ingredients were used to paint the headscarf 

The high-quality ingredients consisted of ultramarine which was used to paint the headscarf while the jacket was made from the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli that is required to be heated and ground up to produce a pigment. It was also said that the blue pigment used in this painting was worth more than gold at that time.

Now that we know a little bit more about the original artwork that inspired this series, let's dive into... 

The Art of Picking: Girl with a Pearl Earring by Po Yun Wang

This installation of Po Yun Wang's The Art of Picking series embodies a disinterested and "gold-digging" Girl with a Pearl Earring, comes with 3 interchangeable parts that you can swap out her left hand for to suit your mood - throwing a peace sign, using her flip phone or looking into her seashell mirror.

Let's take a closer look at this timeless beauty: