Tim's Vermeer (2013)

Fascinating documentary spotlighting one man’s obsession with how Vermeer was able to get such lifelike light and color into his paintings. His ingenious invention - a lens pulling the image to a mirror rigged directly above the canvas - enabled this non-artist to create a masterpiece more foolproof than a paint-by-numbers kit.

Watching this felt a bit like being let in on a magician’s secrets -- like, “What the hell?? I thought Vermeer was an amazing painter. Now I find out he may have just been cheating!” But then I questioned myself, wondering why in the world I should consider artistic innovation to be a cheat. It's genius either way.

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