Tim's Vermeer

Awe-inspiring! Penn and Teller's sterling documentary.
-Nick Schager, Village Voice
Just about the most fun you can have while learning
-Peter Debruge, Variety
Thrilling to watch!
-Jow Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
'Tim's Vermeer' is a fascinating story about the artistic process.
-Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor
So entertaining audiences hardly even realize how incendiary it is!
-Peter Debruge, Variety
Tim's Vermeer... will have you, long after the credits fade, puzzling out questions of invention, creativity, science, talent, painstaking craft, and the magic that comes of putting all that together.
-Bob Mondello, NPR

Synopsis

Tim Jenison, a Texas based inventor, attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in all art: How did 17th century Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer ("Girl with a Pearl Earring") manage to paint so photo-realistically -- 150 years before the invention of photography? The epic research project Jenison embarks on to test his theory is as extraordinary as what he discovers. Spanning a decade, Jenison's adventure takes him to Delft, Holland, where Vermeer painted his masterpieces; on a pilgrimage to the North coast of Yorkshire to meet artist David Hockney; and eventually even to Buckingham Palace, to see the Queen's Vermeer.

Theatrical Release Date

Friday, February 21, 2014
Original Languages: Dutch, English
Genre: Documentary
Running Time: 80 min.
Year: 2013

CREDITS

CAST
David Hockney
Tim Jenison
DIRECTED BY
Teller

TRAILER


PHOTOS

Tim Jenison (right) demonstrates his first painting experiment to his friend, producer Penn Jillette (right). Photo by Shane F. Kelly, © 2013 High Delft Pictures LLC, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.
Tim Jenison makes his first painting using his invention, the comparator mirror and a photograph of his father-in-law.Photo © 2013 Tim Jenison, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Tim Jenison nearly falls asleep polishing a lens. For his experiment, Jenison made his own 17th century lens. Photo by Shane F. Kelly, © 2013 High Delft Pictures LLC, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.
Tim Jenison (right) adjusts the wig on Graham Toms (left) who modeled as the gentleman for Tim's painting. Photo by Shane F. Kelly, © 2013 High Delft Pictures LLC, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.
Tim Jenison discovers a mistake in Vermeer's original painting of The Music Lesson. Photo by Shane F. Kelly, © 2013 High Delft Pictures LLC, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.
Artist David Hockney (right) listens as Tim Jenison (left) explains his device in Hockney's atelier. Photo by Shane F. Kelly, © 2013 High Delft Pictures LLC, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.
Tim Jenison made all the glass lenses for his camera obscura by hand, using 17th century methods. © 2013 Tim Jenison. Used with Permission. All Rights Reserved.
Tim Jenison uses the lathe he sawed in half to make a longer table leg, to build the furniture for his Vermeer room. © 2013 Tim Jenison. Used with Permission. All Rights Reserved.
In his warehouse in San Antonio, Texas, Tim Jenison plays the viola de gamba he used to furnish his Vermeer room.Photo © Tim Jenison, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Painter and entertainer Martin Mull (left) talks to Tim Jenison (right) as he tries to paint using Jenison's comparator mirror.Photo © 2013 High Delft Pictures LLC, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.
Tim Jenison in Delft, the Netherlands, where Johannes Vermeer lived. Photo by Shane F. Kelly, © 2013 High Delft Pictures LLC, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.
Tim's Vermeer Director Teller. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
Tim Jenison assembles one of the experimental optical devices he built. Photo by Shane F. Kelly, © 2013 High Delft Pictures LLC, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.
Tim Jenison visits the site of the house where Vermeer lived in Delft, the Netherlands. Photo by Shane F. Kelly, © 2013 High Delft Pictures LLC, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.
Tim Jenison, wearing his surgical loupes, inspects Johannes Vermeer's 'Woman with a Lute' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Photo by Shane F. Kelly, © 2013 High Delft Pictures LLC, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.
Tim Jenison measuring the exact replica of the harpsichord in Vermeer's 'The Music Lesson' that he built to furnish his Vermeer room. © 2013 Tim Jenison. Used with Permission. All Rights Reserved.
Director Teller borrows Tim Jenison's surgical loupes to see a magnified view of the Vermeers at the Rijksmuseum.© 2013 High Delft Pictures LLC. All Rights Reserved.
The filmmakers gather with Professor Philip Steadman and artist David Hockney in Hockney's studio in England.Standing, left to right: Professor Philip Steadman, Director Teller, and Tim Jenison. Seated, left to right: artist David Hockney, Producer Penn J
Tim Jenison with one of the experimental optical devices he built. Photo by Shane F. Kelly, © 2013 High Delft Pictures LLC, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. All Rights Reserved.
Tim Jenison's daughters, Natalie, Luren, and Claire, fitting Claire?s costume so Tim can paint her as the female model in his 'Music Lesson.'© 2013 Tim Jenison. Used with Permission. All Rights Reserved.