#Tim's Vermeer

[harrisfamswatchistory]

The Power of Commitment: Lessons from Tim’s Vermeer

At the Harris Family Register, we hold a deep appreciation for those who dedicate themselves to the betterment of their craft and community. Whether it's through preserving our shared tribal heritage or making the world a better place for future generations, commitment is at the heart of everything we do. That’s why today, we want to highlight a remarkable story of determination and discovery that has inspired us all.

Recently, Gop, Gom, and Attalus came together to watch Tim’s Vermeer, a documentary that follows Texas-based inventor Tim Jenison on a journey to unravel one of art’s greatest mysteries. Jenison's quest is nothing short of incredible: he seeks to understand how Johannes Vermeer, the Dutch master, painted with such photo-realism long before the invention of photography. His commitment takes him across the globe—from Holland to Yorkshire and even Buckingham Palace—meeting notable figures like artist David Hockney along the way.

The documentary showcases more than just an artistic mystery; it’s a tribute to the power of persistence. Jenison’s decade-long pursuit wasn’t driven by fame or fortune, but by curiosity and a deep love for discovery. His work reminds us of the importance of sticking to our goals, even when the journey is long and uncertain. It’s a message that resonates deeply with our family values—after all, we are stronger and more connected when we fully commit to lifting each other up and striving for a brighter future.

For us as a community, the lessons from Tim’s Vermeer extend beyond art. It’s a call to focus on what really matters, whether it’s preserving our shared heritage or ensuring future generations of the Harris family and our interconnected tribes continue to thrive. Like Tim Jenison, we must stay curious, committed, and courageous in the face of challenges, knowing that every step we take brings us closer to something greater.

So let’s take a moment to honor those who inspire us, whether it’s through art, innovation, or the quiet, daily acts of commitment that make our family stronger. We’re in this together, and as the story of Tim’s Vermeer shows, incredible things happen when we put our hearts into the work we do.

[ivovynckier]

Conrad Pope's soundtrack for the movie "Tim's Vermeer".

(Yes, "Tim's Vermeer” is a documentary on Johannes Vermeer, the painter from the Dutch Golden Age, the genius from Delft who painted "The Girl with the Pearl Earring".)

(The award-winning documentary was directed by Teller and produced by Penn Jillette. You read that right: Penn and Teller.)

[gregdotorg]

Tim Davis' Permanent Collection series captures the presence of light and reflection as you stand in front of some of the iconic paintings in museums around the world, and reproduces them at full-scale.

This print of the National Gallery's Vermeer, Girl with a Red Hat, (Permanent Collection), 2003, is coming up for auction on 1 Aug 23.

[mogwai-movie-house]

The 50 Best Documentaries Of All Time

I know this list misses out a number of seminal works, such as Man With A Movie Camera, Nanook of The North, Night Mail and all Leni Riefenstahl's films, but the simple fact of the matter is I never really enjoyed any of those, so I can't very well bring myself to recommend them to others, well-made and influential though they are. The films in this list are the ones that have moved, inspired, delighted or changed me the most, and so are the ones I feel I most want to pass on.

Capturing the Friedmans (2003) ★★★★★★★★★★

Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992) ★★★★★★★★★½

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015) ★★★★★★★★★½

Crumb (1994) ★★★★★★★★★☆

West of Memphis (2012) ★★★★★★★★★☆

Amarillo by Morning (1998) ★★★★★★★★★☆

When We Were Kings (1996) ★★★★★★★★★☆

The Beatles Anthology (1995–1996) ★★★★★★★★★☆

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005) ★★★★★★★★★☆

Chavez: Inside the Coup (2003) ★★★★★★★★★☆

What Is a Woman? (2022) ★★★★★★★★★☆

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991) ★★★★★★★★★☆

The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (2006) ★★★★★★★★★☆

Warren Zevon: Keep Me in Your Heart (2003) ★★★★★★★★★☆

O.J.: Made in America (2016) ★★★★★★★★★☆

The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005) ★★★★★★★★★☆

The Kennedy Assassination (2003) ★★★★★★★★★☆

The Painter and the Thief (2020) ★★★★★★★★½☆

Witch Hunt (2008) ★★★★★★★★½☆

Icarus (2017) ★★★★★★★★½☆

Making a Murderer (2015–2018) ★★★★★★★★½☆

The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer (1992) ★★★★★★★★½☆

The Staircase (2004–2018) ★★★★★★★★½☆

The Century of the Self (2002) ★★★★★★★★½☆

Shoah (1985) ★★★★★★★★½☆

Night and Fog (1956) ★★★★★★★★½☆

Catfish (2010) ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Baraka (1992) ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Daniel Tammett: Brainman (2005) ★★★★★★★★☆☆

The Confession Killer (2019) ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Wild Wild Country (2018) ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Tim's Vermeer (2013) ★★★★★★★★☆☆

The Red Pill (2016) ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Grizzly Man (2005) ★★★★★★★½☆☆

The Filth and the Fury (2000) ★★★★★★★½☆☆

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008) ★★★★★★★½☆☆

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness (2020–2021) ★★★★★★★½☆☆

Koyaanisqatsi (1982) ★★★★★★★½☆☆

The Bridge (2006) ★★★★★★★½☆☆

Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (2019) ★★★★★★★½☆☆

American Movie (1999) ★★★★★★★½☆☆

The Imposter (2012) ★★★★★★★½☆☆

Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt (2004) ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008) ★★★★★★★½☆☆

Precinct Seven Five (2014) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Cocaine Cowboys (2006) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Project Nim (2011) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Outcry (2020) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? (2015) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

[mermaidsirennikita]

I kept feeling like this AI conversation was reminding me of something... and I just realized what it was.

My grandparents knew that I majored in art history, and so in an attempt to connect (no shade, it was nice) they watched this documentary with me called Tim's Vermeer (2013). It's been a while since I've seen the doc, but the basic premise was that Tim Jenison was "attempting to prove that Johannes Vermeer used optical devices like a camera obscura to create his masterpieces".

Which, both as an art history major and a Vermeer fan (his work is probably my favorite, visually) didn't make sense to me. Even as a kid reading books about Vermeer, I'd seen it theorized, many times over with evidence, that Vermeer used aides like the camera obscura to assist in his process. In fact, the film adaptation of Girl with a Pearl Earring, released in 2003, shows Vermeer using this equipment because that was something art historians had been speculating about for quite some time, 10 years before the doc came out.

While we may not have the documentation to conclusively prove that Vermeer used such devices, it's fairly likely based on the work, what little we know of him, and what we know of the art production of his era, that he used it. I mean, it's kind of hard to "prove" anything when you're discussed a centuries-dead subject, but I don't think many Dutch Golden Age-focused art historians in 2013 were like... dying on the hill that Vermeer didn't use any optical devices or specific techniques to create his pieces (though they may debate to what extent they were used, and which ones were utilized and for what pieces). Because at the end of the day, artists have always used tools to assist them in creating their vision. Sometimes, they've literally used assistants, as was the case for many Renaissance maestros like Raphael, who had an entire workshop of assistants and apprentices creating collaborative works.

What the doc was really trying to prove was whether or not Tim could make a "Vermeer". Whether he could, essentially, create a work that was just like Vermeer--and no matter how much he tried to deny it in the doc, it felt like... If not Tim, then perhaps those making the doc itself, were trying to prove that Vermeer was tricking us. That his artistry wasn't artistry or talent or ability, but a sleight of hand that any old dipshit could replicate.

Which is why I'll add now that the documentary was directed by Teller, and written by Penn Gillette, of Penn and Teller fame. They're essentially illusionists, and often remark on the tricks of the trade, hoaxes, etc. They create things to be skeptical of, and are professional skeptics. It's a part of the brand. That's fine. But when you add that perspective to Tim's Vermeer, it feels a lot like they were trying to disprove that there was something unique or special about Vermeer and his work. Anyone can do it--look, Tim just made a Vermeer!

Except... Tim doesn't create an original work with techniques like those Vermeer may have used. He copies The Music Lesson, a piece by Vermeer. A piece Vermeer not only painted, but composed and presumably conceived with the collaboration of a patron. There's this implication that Vermeer is tricking you, that what you thought was God-given (which like, contemporary art historians aren't running around saying talent was God-given and just appeared without practice and equipment and technique) was actually made with the help of this thing, and anyone could do it with this thing, this cheat.

And maybe if Tim had made an original composition, with an original style, with the techniques Vermeer may or may not have used, I'd see the argument more. But he copied Vermeer's technique, his style, and his composition. The things that were unique to the piece were all Vermeer, all something Vermeer thought of or was involved in thinking of. As Jonathan Jones (who I disagree with on a lot of shit, but this was a good line) said, ""The technology Jenison relies on can replicate art, but it does so synthetically, with no understanding of art's inner life. The 'Vermeer' it spits out is a stillborn simulacrum."

Vermeer came to his compositions based on how he grew up, what he knew of symbolism, his history, the individuals he was painting for, even things as individual and minute as the way he perceived light and color. It was unique to him. So while Tim replicated the piece, he did not replicate the art. What he created was not art.

And basically, what I'm saying is, that's what AI "art" (not-art) is doing right now. It's replicating art, it's copying things artists have conceived, but it's doing so without an inner life of any kind, without an individualized sensibility. And an individualized perspective, good or bad, is part of what makes art... art.

[jeanjauthor]

The reason why this image works so well is because Vermeer was a master of lighting.

Go watch Tim's Vermeer if you want to know why and the most plausible reason of how.

Girl with Pearl Earring, at the museum - Johannes Vermeer

[thetwistedwhiskersshow]

every day i try to tell people, watch Tim's Vermeer, it's a great movie, you should really see Tim's Vermeer. but because i am not an art history major or something my friends just look at me funny and go "ok"

[31n13]

Penn and Teller directed and produced Tim's Vermeer?? Excuse me??

[ivovynckier]

Film composer Conrad Pope's main theme for the documentary "Tim's Vermeer".

(Conrad Pope assisted John Williams as orchestrator for many years.)

(Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller financed this movie with his own money.)

[jeanjauthor]

Yes, but did Nenartowicz create this painting from a reference object with a little mirror like Vermeer most likely did? (See the documentary Tim's Vermeer for more details.)

(Also, rhetorical artworld ethical dilemma: Can you really tell if an Hieronymus Bosch or Salvador Dali painting was done by a human being versus an AI?)

((...Answer for everyone who doesn't get that the above rhetorical question was a joke: Obviously you can, because both painters have only ever produced paintings that would have been physically made, so there are no "new" ones of their art unless you can physically hold the original physical painting in your physical hands. Or an art conservator's hands, whatever.))

“The Girl with the Hieronymus Bosch Tattoo” by Agnieszka Nienartowicz.

[simplicius-simplicissimus]

A BeNeLux Trip without Luxemburg (ein BeNeLux-Trip ohne Luxemburg)

Manneken Pis - a mascot of the Brussels people

In 2012 we visited Brussels and Amsterdam. Brussels is not only the capital of Belgium, but also the de facto capital of the EU - and every citizen should visit its capital once. The NATO headquarters is also located in Brussels. Belgium is not only known for “French fries” and “chocolate”, but also for its comic strip culture. Brussels is something like the capital of this culture. I grew up with Belgian and French comic strip culture a la “Tintin and Snowy” and “Asterix and Obelix”.

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands - but the seat of government is in The Hague. Amsterdam is known for its artistic heritage, an extensive canal system and narrow gabled houses that date back to the city's so-called "Golden Age" in the 17th century. The art of the “Golden Age” (Rembrandt, Vermeer etc.) can be admired in the world-famous Rijksmuseum - the art of a younger, world-famous son of the country in the Van Gogh Museum. Dutch society is known to be very open, tolerant, liberal and socially conscious - although there is nowadays a certain right-wing populism there too (a disease that is prevalent in many countries today). Cycling is part of the city's culture and shapes the cityscape with numerous cycle paths.

At the beginning of the 2000s, my job took me to the Netherlands for two weeks - more precisely to The Hague. I didn't go home for the weekend, but instead went to see Amsterdam. Many internationally operating companies have their headquarters or important branches for Europe in Amsterdam (as well as Brussels) - which is why I often found myself in this city in the following years, not only for private purposes but also for professional purposes. I really like this livable city and its flair. My favorite place in Amsterdam is the Science Museum NEMO. The roof of the NEMO building is the highest city square in the Netherlands. There you can find the open-air exhibition „Energetica“, a large terrace and a restaurant with beautiful views of the city of Amsterdam.

Science Museum NEMO, Amsterdam

In 2012 besuchten wir Brüssel und Amsterdam. Brüssel ist nicht nur die Hauptstadt von Belgien, sondern auch die De-Facto-Haupt der EU - und jeder Bürger sollte einmal seine Hauptstadt besuchen. Ferner befindet sich das Hauptquartier der NATO in Brüssel. Belgien ist nicht nur bekannt für „Pommes Frites“ und „Schokolade“, sondern auch für seine Comic-Strip-Kultur. Brüssel ist so etwas wie die Hauptstadt dieser Kultur. Ich wuchs auf mit belgischer und französischer Comic-Strip-Kultur a la „Tim und Struppi“ and „Asterix und Obelix“.

Amsterdam ist die Hauptstadt der Niederlande - aber der Regierungssitz ist in Den Haag. Amsterdam ist für ihr künstlerisches Erbe, ein weit verzweigtes Grachtensystem und schmale Häuser mit Giebelfassaden bekannt, die auf das sogenannte „Goldene Zeitalter“ der Stadt im 17. Jahrhundert zurückgehen. Die Kunst des „Goldenen Zeitalter“ (Rembrandt, Vermeer etc.) kann im weltberühmten Rijksmuseum bestaunt werden - die Kunst eines jüngeren, weltbekannten Sohns des Landes im Van-Gogh-Museum. Die niederländische Gesellschaft ist als sehr offen, tolerant, liberal und sozialbewusst bekannt - wobei auch dort inzwischen ein gewisser Rechtspopulismus herrscht (eine Krankheit, die heute in vielen Ländern gibt). Das Radfahren gehört zur Stadtkultur und prägt das Stadtbild mit zahlreichen Radwegen.

Anfang der 2000er-Jahre führte mich beruflich mein Weg zum ersten Mal für 2 Wochen in die Niederlande - genauer nach Den Haag. Ich fuhr zum Wochenende nicht nach Hause, sondern schaute mir dafür Amsterdam an. In Amsterdam (wie auch Brüssel) haben viele international operierende Unternehmen ihre Hauptquartiere oder wichtige Dependencen in Europa - deshalb verschlug es mich in den folgenden Jahren nicht nur privat, sondern auch beruflich noch öfters in diese Stadt. Ich mag diese lebenswerte Stadt und ihr Flair sehr. Mein Lieblingsplatz in Amsterdam ist das Wissenschaftliche Museum NEMO. Das Dach des NEMO-Gebäudes ist der höchste Platz einer Stadt in den Niederlanden. Dort befindet sich die Open-Air-Ausstellung „Energetica“, eine große Terrasse und ein Restaurant mit herrlichem Blick auf die Stadt Amsterdam.

View on Amsterdam from NEMO roof

-Simplicius Simplicissimus

[ravelite]

This debate seems like a prime example of why it’s important to know why the pre-Romantic notion of “art” was very different from our own. Our modern concept of “artist” arose in the Romantic era of the 17th and 18th centuries. To put it in simple terms, people like Vermeer and Caravaggio wouldn’t think of themselves as “artists” in our modern sense, more like “artisans.” Their works were extraordinary, but our Romantic notions of artistic genius would have been foreign to them. Most famous pre-Romantic Western art was work-for-hire, commissioned by a church to fill a spot in a nave or by a wealthy person for a wall of their house. Workers hired to do a task aren’t going to get hung up on notions of “genius” and “cheating” the way a modern artist or critic might. Using optical devices likely wouldn’t have been “cheating.”

Notes on the Hockney-Falco Thesis, and “Tim’s Vermeer” | Aaron Hertzmann’s blog

[annoyingthemesong]

10 UNDERRATED DOCUMENTARIES

Say Amen Somebody

Streetwise

Tim’s Vermeer

Les Maitres Fous

The King of Kong

The Seven Five

Jesus Camp

Happy People: A Year in the Taiga

Tabloid

Level Five

[marxistmiku]

ive been saying this for years but this idea that art is somehow less legitimate because it uses technological advancement (im not talking abt ai art btw) does absolutely nothing to improve the artistic zeitgeist. this is the same argument that older painters use when they boast that digital art or 3d modeling aren't "real art" its just fundamentalist and stupid. everyone go watch tims vermeer and understand that insisting engineering and sciences are somehow completely separate from the arts is not only limiting but historically wrong in every way.

please never feel bad for taking shortcuts in art. its ok if you copy and paste the other eye. its okay if you use the circle tool or the line tool. its okay to use a reference. its not about doing it the hard way, its about creating something. i promise you, you arent a worse artist for using tricks and shortcuts. its about the end product, not the process, and you shouldnt torture yourself with the hardest methods imaginable if it wont change your art in the end

[takenene]

so i watched tim's vermeer and like. my jaw is not even on the floor. it went straight through the fucking crust of the earth