When people see abstract art many will say they wouldn’t have any trouble making something similar. There are a lot of cases where I will agree, but usually art is more than just a painting. It is a story around it, the history of the artist and the interest people have. When it comes to the Dutch masters like Rembrandt or Vermeer you wouldn’t expect someone to say that they would also be able to paint it, but that’s exactly what Tim Jenison did. What’s interesting though is that he had never painted in his life.
This documentary, produced by the magician duo Penn and Teller, follows Tim in his quest to paint a Vermeer. Tim is an inventor who has had a very successful career in setting up his company Newtek. He was always interested in art and Vermeer especially. It seemed the artist painted with light, capturing nuances your eye wouldn’t normally see. Since very little is known about his techniques he started thinking about it, inspired by a book he read. He came to the conclusion that Vermeer used technology to get his results. After thinking about it he found a technique which involved a lens and painting the image projected through it using a mirror. He decided to try it using a picture of his father and without any knowledge of painting and just comparing colors he was able to get a stunning result. His next step would be to recreate one of Vermeer’s paintings with all its detail.
What made this such a fascinating documentary is that it shows how dedication to something can make you do anything. Tim recreates the setting of the painting in detail, having to build a chair and other things without knowing much about it. Once he starts painting it is clear how much work is needed, but the result is stunning. Of course this immediately leads to questions about the skill of Vermeer himself. If Tim could do it without experience, would it mean that Vermeer also wasn’t skilled and in reality anyone could actually do it? To me it isn’t important. His paintings are appreciated by the art world and his technique shouldn’t be that important. He lived in a different time when you were not able to take pictures, just like everyone else he had to make a living. If he used technology to come to such stunning result I think that’s awesome. Sure you could paint it, but it lacks the story and history of someone who lived in a different era.
Nice review. I really enjoyed this as well and agree that Tim’s devotion makes it a pretty compelling doc. The actual painting process lags a bit but it’s still a very good picture.
Thanks. Yeah, the painting bit is a bit long, but I liked that as it shows how much effort it takes to come to the result.