Review of Tim's Vermeer (2013) by Harrison W — 17 Mar 2014

Fascinating art documentary structured like a whodunnit, or rather, a howdunnit. Independently wealthy inventor Tim Jenison tries to solve the mystery of how 17th century Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer made the leap from the flat, playing card-like portraits of the time to painting luminous photorealistic masterpieces like Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Music Lesson.

Jenison, who invented video technology that practically all TV studios use today, simply could not believe that Vermeer could paint such portraits without the aid of technology, and devises an experiment to see if he, will no training as an artist, could paint an equivalent painting using only technology available in Vermeer's time.