A man views Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer on Monday at the Frick Collection in New York. Photo: CFP

 Girl with a Pearl Earring, the much-loved Dutch masterpiece that has intrigued art lovers for centuries, went on exhibition in New York Tuesday.

Painted by Johannes Vermeer around 1665, it is the highlight of 15 extraordinary 17th-century paintings on loan to The Frick Collection until January 19.

The canvas has enjoyed a cult following since becoming the subject of a bestselling novel in 1999 and a Hollywood film starring Scarlett Johansson in 2003.

The Dutch Golden Age exhibition has been four years in the making and is expected to be hugely popular if for this one painting alone, said Frick director Ian Wardropper.

The Frick, which is one of the smallest galleries in New York, is preparing to welcome a maximum of 12,000 people a week, Wardropper said.

"For us it is a huge number. That is why we ticketed it, so we have some control, and people won't feel they are overwhelmed," Wardropper told AFP.

New York is the latest step in a globe-trotting tour for the painting while The Royal Picture Gallery­ Mauritshuis, located in The Hague, undergoes renovation­ work.

Tickets went on sale in July and have been issued­ on specific time slots to avoid overwhelming crowds.

More than 10,000 people a day visited Girl with a Pearl Earring and 47 other works from the Mauritshuis last year in Tokyo, Wardropper said.

AFP