Review of Tim's Vermeer : creation of a masterwork grade painting on a first attempt using ~350 year old technology.

So, we saw this movie last night:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim's_Vermeer

Got it from the library.

Regards Tim Jenison's efforts to find out how the painter Vermeer painted such accurate paintings of real world objects and rooms, with exquisite detail.

Using two lenses and a mirror (apparently):

http://boingboing.net/2014/06/10/vermeers-paintings-might-be.html

Also check:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-and-testing-the-optical-apparatus-from-Ti/

So check out this photo of a painting made by a *first time painter* :
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0wEA98GDUc1tzFF9egrJn28r6kgTWLl5e122JpY90yv3sFF6zK8akcXs-M6WMKwTKh2eaGTLRAtigDTi_AcRFDB2MIFwEmBGOLr75wnaJfWzxaIxyG5DeYEQuhm-w20KR7JToqyOTnez/s1600/Jenison+-+Music+Lesson.jpg

(as from http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/2014/06/movie-review-tims-vermeer.html )

And here's the work the above was based on by Vermeer:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Johannes_Vermeer_-_Lady_at_the_Virginal_with_a_Gentleman,_'The_Music_Lesson'_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

But the guy must have some skill to engage such fine brush strokes (see the film).

There's several reasons to believe that Johannes Vermeer used lenses and a mirror or mirrors to create his paintings:

Reason 1: The level of light, shadow, & object detail in his paintings would be difficult to create extemporaneously (without preparation - just putting brush to paper and painting).

Reason 2: Objects in Vermeer's paintings, their size ratios & etc. match up with each other (see the film also).

Reason 3: Also in a print of an original Vermeer Mr. Jenison noticed painted elements which match up with distortion effects which result from using curved mirrors. True that Vermeer may well have corrected for some such effects, but he wasn't perfect and one part of a painting was curved when it should have otherwise been straight.

In college I did take an art overview class. In that class I remember the teacher bleating on about the distinction between technology and art. What a bunch of bullshit though - especially in light of the findings of Mr. Jenison and related people.

A bit of googling shows that there may be "10 reasons to doubt" Jenison's hypothesis. And there may be 50 reasons why the author of such an article is a petty & shallow moron.

An untrained artist creates a masterwork grade painting, using lenses, mirrors, paint, a set, canvas, and light.

More on the thesis:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hockney%E2%80%93Falco_thesis

I'm a believer in the clear observational & experimental evidence.

Examining preexisting paintings. Conducting an experiment. Creating a masterwork grade painting on a first attempt, in about ~120 days (actual painting work) using ~350 year old technology. Why object?

Additional reviews:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tims_vermeer_2014/

More info:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2517051/Johannes-Vermeer-DID-use-mirrors-camera-obscura-paintings.html