diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/vtk/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/vtk/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..cb9853ebbbc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/vtk/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+{stdenv, fetchurl, cmake, mesa, libX11, xproto, libXt }:
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation {
+  name = "vtk-5.2.1";
+  src = fetchurl {
+    url = http://www.vtk.org/files/release/5.2/vtk-5.2.1.tar.gz;
+    sha256 = "c81521b3767a044745336212cbde500d6e97a1f8ba647bc590857e36f57003bb";
+  };
+  buildInputs = [ cmake mesa libX11 xproto libXt ];
+
+  meta = {
+    description = "Open source libraries for 3D computer graphics, image processing and visualization";
+    homepage = http://www.vtk.org/;
+    license = "BSD";
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index e55dbe35ef70..94cf9c68413b 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -3879,6 +3879,11 @@ let
     inherit postgresql mysql sqlite;
   });
 
+  vtk = import /root/nix/vtk/default.nix {
+    inherit stdenv fetchurl cmake mesa;
+    inherit (xlibs) libX11 xproto libXt;
+  };
+
   vxl = import ../development/libraries/vxl {
    inherit fetchurl stdenv cmake unzip libtiff expat zlib libpng libjpeg;
   };