Most painters start with a pencil. They sketch the shape and form of their subject on canvas, then layer over it with paint, attempting to bring an image to life.
Johannes Vermeer, the 17th-century Dutch painter renowned for his mastery of light and photo-like detail, made no sketches: X-rays of his work show only a blank canvas underneath the paint. For decades, this revelation has baffled artists and scholars alike. How did Vermeer achieve such perfect detail 150 years before the advent of photography? Deepening the mystery, there is no record of him ever apprenticing with another painter. It was like Vermeer was a self-taught magician, a genius savant whose secrets no one could unlock.
Until now, perhaps. In 2001, British artist David Hockney published a book, Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters, in which he argues that Vermeer and a few other artists of his time utilized optic tools like mirrors and a camera obscura to aid their painting, reflecting a living image onto the canvas and tracing over it. British architecture professor Philip Steadman published a different book that same year, echoing the theory. While compelling, the idea is flawed in practice: Any paint added to the canvas (other than white paint) darkens the image, making it impossible to match colors.
Enter Tim Jenison, a Texas-based inventor who became obsessed with cracking Vermeer’s code, and who is the subject of the provocative and highly entertaining documentary Tim’s Vermeer. Directed by Teller (of Penn & Teller) and co-starring Penn Gillette (the two are friends of Jenison), the film tracks Jenison’s years-long attempt to recreate optical tools that conceivably could have been used by Vermeer in his time, and then use them to recreate one of his paintings.
The film begins with Jenison explaining his simple yet ingenious system of mirrors that allows him to see an image as he’s simultaneously looking at the canvas (it has to be seen to be fully understood). He tells us he’s only held a paintbrush in hand a few times, and then starts to paint a copy of a photograph of his father-in-law. The results are stunning, the detail exacting and perfect.
Recreating a Vermeer, however, presents unique challenges a photograph does not: Jenison has to first recreate the setting in which Vermeer painted, with the exact lighting, room dimensions and furniture (the painting he chooses is “The Music Lesson”). Watching Jenison tackle these problems (he even makes his own paint) is one of the film’s most enjoyable elements, and it is clear we are watching a genius at work.
With the set built and his mirror system optimally tweaked, the painting begins, and we see an inventor paint like Vermeer. As the image starts to take shape and we sense Jenison is going to pull it off, the film raises interesting questions about the definition of art. If Vermeer utilized a mirror system like Jenison’s, does that make his work less impressive? Less authentic?
At only 80 minutes long, Tim’s Vermeer is a fast, fun journey into a remarkably clever mind. There are a few throwaway scenes that seem tacked on to give the film a little more length and to beef up Jenison’s struggles, but the film moves through them quickly and refocuses on what we care about most: In a warehouse somewhere in San Antonio, a man with no prior painting experience is creating a masterpiece, and when he finishes his last brushstroke, any distinction between artist and inventor has disappeared.
TIM’S VERMEER (3½) Directed by Teller • Starring Tim Jenison, Penn Jillette, Colin Blakemore • Rated PG-13 • 80 mins. • At Osio Cinemas.