Letter: Long-distance look at Vermeer

Sir: Although we had no tickets booked weeks in advance, gaining admission to the Vermeer exhibition (Letters, 8 May, l0 May) was not the problem; the crowds, especially around midday, certainly were. Never before had we seen people with opera glasses at an exhibition trying to get a glimpse of the pictures over other people in front of them.

A strong reason behind much-publicised and marketed exhibitions like the Cezanne and the Vermeer is not to give an appreciative public the chance to enjoy pictures normally dispersed all over the world, but to generate as much extra revenue as possible for insufficiently funded institutions.

The lesson is simple: take the usually excellent catalogue displaying the latest state of research, study it carefully at home, and enjoy the pictures later at their normal place of exhibition whenever you have a chance.

Monika Jafri

London E9