13 movies every Art lover should watch
Surviving Picasso (1996). Canvas, color, metal, ceramics. The century’s leading artist commanded them all. But what about the legendary Pablo Picasso’s other great passion? Was romance also dominated by his genius? Academy Award(r) winner* Anthony Hopkins gives a full-throttle performance as the acclaimed artist in this masterful movie told from the viewpoint of Picasso’s long time mistress (Natascha McElhone in a luminous film debut) and mother of his children Claude and Paloma. Director James Ivory, producer Ismail Merchant and writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala reteam with Hopkins for the first time since The Remains of the Day in this lusty, sweeping saga. Joined by producer David L. Wolper (Roots), they draw from a vivid filmmaking palette to create an intimate, insightful tale of genius, beauty and obsession.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). Is the sole purpose of art to create beauty? When Dorian Gray, a handsome, young Victorian gentleman obsessed with the fleeting transience of his own beauty, becomes disturbed by a portrait that seems to capture too much of his soul, he makes a dark pact: He will remain forever young, while the age, disease and decay that should affect his body ravage The Picture of Dorian Gray. Over the years, Dorian Gray (Hurd Hatfield) revels in every imaginable pleasure and experience–altruistic, decadent or evil–while somehow maintaining his youthful beauty even as the painting, locked away in a dark room, reveals an increasingly decaying, corrupt, aging visage. Although Gray may be able to avoid the ravages of time, he cannot escape the wrath of people he wrongs over the years. And when his one lethal weakness is finally discovered, Gray pays for all his evils in a shocking climax.
Lust for Life (1956). Vibrant orange sunflowers. Rippling yellow grain. Trees bursting with white bloom. “The pictures come to me as in a dream,” Vincent Van Gogh said. A dream that too often turned to life-shattering nightmare. Winner of Golden Globe® and New York Film Critics Best Actor Awards, Kirk Douglas gives a fierce portrayal as the artist torn between the joyous inspiration of his genius and the dark desperation of his tormented mind. The obsessed Van Gogh painted the way other men breathe, driving away family and friends, including artist Paul Gauguin (1956 Best Supporting Actor Academy Award® winner Anthony Quinn). Directed by Vincente Minnelli and saturated with the hues of Van Gogh’s sea, field and sky, Lust for Life captures the ecstasy of art. And the agony of one man’s life.
Vincent and Theo (1990). The familiar tragic story of Vincent van Gogh is broadened by focusing as well on his brother Theodore, who helped support Vincent. The movie also provides a nice view of the locations which Vincent painted.
Basquiat (1996). The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.
As Good as It Gets (1997).A single mother and waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.
Pollock (2000). Directed by and starring Academy Award(r) nominee (for Best Actor) Ed Harris POLLOCK is a beautifully-crafted, stunning drama about the legendary American painter, Jackson Pollock. Fellow artists and lovers, Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner are at the center of New York’s 1940s art scene, but as Krasner neglects her work to push Pollock’s career forward, Pollock begins to unravel emotionally. Pollock and Krasner escape to the country and marry and, soon, Pollock creates work that makes him the first internationally-famous modern painter in America. But, with fame and fortune, comes a volatile temper and severe self-doubt; before long, Pollock’s life threatens to explode. Featuring exceptional performances by a stellar cast, including Academy Award(r) winner Marcia Gay Harden, Amy Madigan, Val Kilmer and Jennifer Connelly.
Frida (2002). The film biography of one of Mexico’s most prominent, iconoclastic painters – Frida Kahlo (Salma Hayek). Having recovered from the crippling effects of polio, Kahlo is lucky to survive a city bus accident. Bed-ridden, she is able to produce many art pieces and, when she is fit again, she presents them to Rivera (Alfred Molina) who takes her under his wing as an artist. But their relationship is no easy ride.
Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003). A young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his most famous works.
The DaVinci Code (2005). A murder inside the Louvre, and clues in Da Vinci paintings, lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years, which could shake the foundations of Christianity.
Mr. Turner (2014). Spanning the last 25 years in the life of Britain’s most revered painter, MR. TURNER is a remarkably rich portrait of a complex, contradictory man whose relationships with his family, fellow artists and lovers were often as turbulent as the canvases he painted. Hailed as one of the best films of the year, MR. TURNER is a beautifully shot epic and stands as another masterpiece from Mike Leigh, the seven-time Oscar®-nominated director of Another Year* and Topsy-Turvy†. *2010 Best Writing, Original Screenplay †1999 Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
Loving Vincent (2017). In a story depicted in oil painted animation, a young man comes to the last hometown of painter Vincent van Gogh to deliver the troubled artist’s final letter and ends up investigating his final days there.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019). On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
