Tim's Vermeer

I had recently heard about this documentary and knew I had to give it a shot. Basically, Johannes Vermeer was a 17th Century painter who has painted some of the most photorealistic paintings in history. Through careful investigation, many experts have theorized that he used a camera obscura to project real life scenes onto his canvas, essentially creating a super complicated paint-by-numbers painting. I won't go into the evidence, but it's pretty convincing. However, many believe an even more complicated contraption involving optics was used due to the accuracy of the colors (whereas most paintings during that time had colors that weren't quite right, Vermeer's paintings looked like photographs). Tim Jenison developed a contraption using a simple set of mirrors that let him paint with both realistic colors and shading. Long story short, the results are astounding - a non-painter eventually creates a painting that would make Vermeer proud. Yes, he did not come up with the composition so he's not quite as impressive as Vermeer, but it's still crazy. The amount of time and attention to detail is a real testament to Tim Jenison's drive and commitment.

But anyway, I was super intrigued by this documentary and had to read all the criticism. That's what I do. Some of the reviewers of this film fancy themselves artists. So of course they are uncomfortable with a non-artist deconstructing how a painting is made. So naturally, they need to diminish what Jenison has done. "His results are impressive for an amateur" was a common sentiment. The amateur part was stressed over and over. Rather than be impressed by his dedication (the project took him something like two years), they just mocked him for having so much free time on his hands (unlike the movie critics who are doing God's work). And I won't go into the rest of the shit that pisses me off, but a lot of the reviewers seem to be trying to discredit him while simultaneously giving themselves pats on the back for pursuing artistry as movie critics. UGH.

But anyway, my only criticism is that the movie can drag sometimes due to its narrow focus on something that is painstaking. It's a documentary that's more about obsession than exploring the idea that some of the most famous painters in history could have used optics. And I guess that is to be expected because the theory that optics were used can never truly be proven. Also, I would have liked a little more on Vermeer. Did I mention that Teller directed and Penn narratted? Overall, I highly recommend this doc. His painting is something that you should really check out. But don't go look up a picture of it before you see the documentary. That ruins the fun.