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Films about art, artists and the art market are on the rise. Discovering and learning more about the art world and its protagonists has never been easier or more fascinating.
From Hollywood productions of the 1990s to more recent productions, docu-films about the best-loved and most important artists on the art scene continue to captivate audiences.
DISCOVER 5 ART MOVIES ABOUT THE MOST LOVED ARTISTS
Are you an art lover and want to learn more about the lives of the leading figures in contemporary art? Here's a list of 5 art films you can't miss!
Surviving Picasso
There is no need to explain who Pablo Ruiz Picasso is. However, in the 1996 film directed by James Ivory, light is on a - perhaps - lesser-known aspect about Pablo Picasso, that he was a heartbreaker and womanizer and a difficult person to deal with. The term 'Surviving' in the film's title refers to precisely this side of the artist's character.
Picasso is played by a masterful Anthony Hopkins while Natascha McElhone takes on the role of the lovely Francoise Gilot. Francoise Gilot acts as the narrator of the story, but there are many women who are captured and presented in the film such as Dora Maar, Marie Thérèse Walter, Ol'ga Chochlova and Jacqueline Roque.
The film is based on the books Picasso: Creator and Destroyer by Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington and Vivre avec Picasso by Françoise Gilot herself.
The plot of the film begins when Pablo Picasso and Françoise Gilot meet around the last years of World War II, when the artist was living in his attic and studio in Paris, at the time under German occupation, and dating Dora Maar, a French photographer and painter, who was Picasso's lover and muse and portrayed several times in his works. The affair continued with the birth of a relationship with Gilot parallel to that with Dora Maar, with whom he would later separate.
After World War II, Picasso and Gilot moved to a house in the countryside where they married and began to build a family, having their first child Claude, and later Paloma, together. Although Picasso seemed lost to Gilot, betrayals and the artist's life to excess brought the love affair to an end in 1954, when Françoise Gilot took the decision to leave Picasso with her two children. For this she will also go down in history as the only woman 'surviving' the artist's perverse love.
There are numerous flashbacks in the film showing Picasso grappling with the creation of his most famous and important works such as Guernica.
Hidden Away
Directed by Giorgio Diritti, Hidden Away (Volevo Nascondermi) is a 2020 film about the life of Antonio Ligabue, one of the most important Italian artists of the 20th century, played by Elio Germano.
The film narrates the story of the painter with numerous flashbacks describing the painter's childhood and his Swiss-Italian origins, as well as his hospitalisation due to various episodes in his childhood, such as his expulsion from school and his assault on his adoptive mother. The story also tells of the artist's psychophysical disorders and his illness, rickets.
Ligabue was then discovered by the critic Mazzacurati, who encouraged him to continue working on his artworks until he was appreciated by critics and academics, who defined his works as naive.
Van Gogh - At Eternity’s Gate
Directed by Julian Schnabel, Van Gogh - At Eternity’s Gate is a 2018 film starring Willem Dafoe - Oscar nominee -, Oscar Isaac and Mads Mikkelsen.
Van Gogh - At Eternity’s Gate is a sad film about one of the most tormented artists in art history, namely Vincent Van Gogh. The film gives us a glimpse of a depressed and abused artist and recounts Vincent Van Gogh's last, tormented years, from his stormy friendship with Paul Gauguin to the gunshot that killed him at the age of only 37.
The film begins with a self-imposed exile by the artist, who, after his Parisian experience, decides to move to Arles where, however, the welcome towards him is very hostile.
The artist's stay in the village is alternated by his constant hospitalisations; it is during these times that Van Gogh keeps up his correspondence with his younger brother Theo, the only person who understands him and believes in his talents. Theo proposes to have the paintings sent to Paris in order to sell them, but even so his paintings are not appreciated by the public. Later, Van Gogh is joined in Arles by the painter Gauguin, who is initially a friend and supporter of the artist but with whom he later has several disagreements.
The film ends by exploring the artist's emotional crisis, which leads him to cut off his ear, and later with his death.
"I wanted so much to share what I see. Now I only think about my relationship with eternity." - Vincent Van Gogh
Big Eyes
An astonishing 2014 film, Big Eyes chronicles the life of artist Margaret Keane and her struggle to take her place within the art world. Margaret Keane, played by Amy Adams, is presented as an artist full of insecurities and no idea how to promote her incredible paintings with huge-eyed characters.
If you are looking for a feminist film with a great cast and an extraordinary director this is your next film to see!
Director Tim Burton, Golden Globe winner Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz as her plagiarist husband Walter Keane tell the incredible story of Margaret Keane and her struggle.
The film begins with the talented artist getting married for the second time to the villain of the story, Walter Keane, who turns out to be a plagiarist and who will take all the credit for the paintings with big-eyed subjects, actually painted by Margaret, over the years. For years, in fact, he was believed to be the real author of his wife's paintings that revolutionised American art at the time.
Walter sold paintings and thus began to sell his wife's artwork, signing them with his own name. However, with the time passing and after their terrible break-up, Margaret finally found the strength to protest loudly to obtain her rights.
Frida
A 2002 film, Frida is a biographical film directed by Julie Taymor and focusing on the private life of the great Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The film is a cinematographic adaptation of the biographical book Frida. A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera.
The Mexican artist is played by Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina, who plays Diego Rivera.
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are two important names in Mexican culture and the art world. With extraordinary personalities and artistic styles, this film biography is a great way to explore the lives of these two important artists.
The film narrates the deep and tormented love story of the two protagonists, from his constant betrayals to his divorce and ending with a later, second marriage. The film also recounts the artistic rise of Frida Kahlo and her darkest periods, where loneliness and depression play a major role in the painter's life.
"I hope the exit is joyful, and I hope I never come back." - Frida Kahlo
