Last week such connoisseurs took note, with panic or delight, of a controversy which concerned a painting called The Guitar Player, executed long ago by famed Jan Vermeer der Delft; a painting of ...

That’s one takeaway from “Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry,” an exhibit (October 22 through January 21) at Washington’s National Gallery of Art.

It’s not often that art lovers have the chance to walk through a room full of paintings by the great Dutch master Johannes Vermeer. After all, there are only about 35 of his pieces still in ...