TORONTO — For years, art historians have wondered how the 17th-century master Johannes Vermeer — The Girl With The Pearl Earring guy — managed to create such realism in his paintings. One theory was that he used the techniques of photography, some kind of lens or “camera obscura� to help him trace the colours and shades of his subjects.
Now a new theory has emerged in the film Tim’s Vermeer. It postulates that he used a trick that people are always saying about magicians: He did it with mirrors. So it’s fitting that Tim’s Vermeer comes to the screen courtesy of Penn Teller, two of the most famous magicians in the world.
“It’s perfect,� laughs Penn Jillette (he’s the tall one), but it’s one of the few laughs we’re going to get in an interview done at last fall’s Toronto film festival, where Tim’s Vermeer had its premiere. Despite their playful
Article source: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Vermeer+deconstructs+magic+artistic+creation/9531472/story.html