Hey everyone;
Once in a while its good to take a break and relax… lately I have been on a kick to find and watch all the movies I can about painters… searching the internet I found 383 movies about painters… so I started my journey… heres what I have seen and recommend so far….
Frida– Frida (2002) This account of Mexican surrealist pioneer Frida Kahlo is visually stunning, not only in portraying her life but in bringing several of her most famous paintings to life on the screen. Salma Hayek performs beautifully in the title role.
Pollock- Pollock (2000) Ed Harris’s pet project about groundbreaking modern artist Jackson Pollock garnered critical acclaim, Academy Award nominations (and a win for Marcia Gay Harden as Pollock’s wife), and is certainly worth checking out.
Paradise Found- (2003) Kiefer Sutherland. Paris, 1880. Paul Gauguin is a successful financier. He lives in Paris with his wife Mette and their four children. But when his passion for painting becomes a mission to revolutionize art, Gauguin must unleash the savage within himself. To do so he gives up his job and comfortable lifestyle, leading his family into a downward spiral of poverty and travels to Tahiti. His voyages take him even further from his beloved family and teach him the true meaning of the word sacrifice. What price must he pay in order to pursue his dream?Surviving Picasso
Basquiat– Basquiat (1996) Depicting postmodern graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and his troubled rise to fame, this movie marks the directorial debut of Julian Schnabel, originally a painter himself and a former colleague of the artist.
Lust for Life- (1956) Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn. Vincent Van Gogh is the archetypical tortured artistic genius. His obsession with painting, combined with mental illness, propels him through an unhappy life full of failures and unrewarding relationships. He fails at being a preacher to coal miners. He fails in his relationships with women. He earns some respect among his fellow painters, especially Paul Gauguin, but he does not get along with them. He only manages to sell one painting in his lifetime. The one constant good in his life is his brother Theo, who is unwavering in his moral and financial support.
Factory Girl– Factory Girl (2006) Focusing on muse and model Edie Sedgwick, this movie offers an alternate perspective into the world of Andy Warhol’s famous Factory collective.
Modigliani- (2004) Andy Garcia. Set in Paris in 1919, biopic centers on the life of late Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, focusing on his last days as well as his rivalry with Pablo Picasso. Modigliani, a Jew, has fallen in love with Jeanne, a young and beautiful Catholic girl. The couple has an illegitimate child, and Jeanne’s bigoted parents send the baby to a faraway convent to be raised by nuns. Modigliani is distraught and needs money to rescue and raise his child. The answer arrives in the shape of Paris’ annual art competition. Prize money and a guaranteed career await the winner. Neither Modigliani, nor his dearest friend and rival Picasso have ever entered the competition, believing that it is beneath true artists like themselves. But push comes to shove with the welfare of his child on the line, and Modigliani signs up for the competition in a drunken and drug-induced tirade. Picasso follows suit and all of Paris is aflutter with excitement at who will win. With the balance of his relationship with Jeanne
Painters Painting- (1973) The definitive documentary on the New York School Painters. Featuring footage of all the major figures of the New York Art Scene between 1940-1970, showing many of the artists before they became famous.
Seraphine- (2008) The tragic story of French naïve painter Séraphine Louis aka Séraphine de Senlis (1864-1942), a humble servant who becomes a gifted self-taught painter. Discovered by prominent critic and collector William Uhde, she came to prominence between the wars grouped with other naïve painters
I still have plenty to go.. but I am committed to see as many as I can… have a great week everyone. enjoy a movie!
…peace
………………james