FILM SUMMARY:

Much has been written, but little is known about Johannes Vermeer, painter of iconic paintings and crowd pleasers such as The Milkmaid and Girl with a Pearl Earring. His small oeuvre is almost everything he left behind. Close to Vermeer follows Gregor Weber, a globally renowned Vermeer expert and flamboyant curator at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. In the year before he retires, he works on his big dream: the largest Vermeer exhibition ever. Together with Weber, a number of Vermeer enthusiasts and experts go in search of what truly makes a Vermeer a Vermeer. Through new discoveries and by dissecting the work layer by layer, this film brings us closer to the painter to understand the decisions he made and the steps in his oeuvre.      

     Art galleries do not interest me.  Documentaries about interesting subjects do interest me.  Close to Vermeer falls into the latter category.

      The segments on putting the exhibit together was an interesting behind the scenes of how a museum operates. What really interested me were the parts about research.  I was fascinated how researchers examined the paintings.  Those interviewed talked about initial research done in the 1990’s followed by how technology and techniques have changed.  

       I wish the eighty minute runtime had ten extra minutes to expand these conversations. Parts of the film talked about different researchers authenticating or not paintings. In that ten minutes I would of like to have see how others reached their conclusions. 

     This joins the ranks of some great documentaries about art such as Tim’s Vermeer and the fantastic Cave of Forgotten Dreams.  On that list I would include the non fiction drama The Last Vermeer.

     Until next time I will see you at the movies!