The Mauritshuis museum in the Netherlands has been criticized for featuring an AI-created image inspired by Johannes Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring."
Berlin-based digital artist Julian van Dieken said he used the Midjourney AI tool and Photoshop to create his work, "A Girl With Glowing Earrings," which pays homage to the original.
Van Dieken's work was one of five artworks chosen as part of a museum contest that saw nearly 3,500 submissions.
- The contest, called "My Girl With a Pearl," called on artists to reimage Vermeer's 1665 painting while the original is on loan at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands.
- Van Dieken said he was transparent about his use of AI in the submissions, reflecting on how AI tools may alter creative processes.
- However, his AI-generated work has drawn criticism from some in the art world. Dutch artist Iris Compiet called the selection "an insult to the legacy of Vermeer and also to any working artist. Coming from a museum, it's a real slap in the face."
- A Mauritshuis spokesperson said it is "not the museum to discuss if AI belongs in an art museum."
