Art gallery on the big screen

Luiza Poreda, 10 April 2020

During the coronavirus pandemic, we suggest how to spend an interesting time interacting with painting, sculpture and graphics without leaving home – online art available on the Internet! We chose films about art that are worth attention. In addition to well-known classics, our collection of films includes several less-known pearls. We invite you to watch!

1. Fight: life and lost work of Stanisław Szukalski

Probably not many of you know that Leonardo DiCaprio was fascinated by the work of the Polish artist Stanisław Szukalski. He loved him so much that he became the producer of the Netflix documentary about this creator. This is a story about the life of Szukalski – a freak, eccentric, Polish sculptor and self-styled genius who created his own concept about the origin of ancient Poles. He had the chance to become a true legend, but the outbreak of World War II ruined his success. The work of one of the most unusual Polish artists of the 20th century was only rediscovered at the end of his life. Today he is considered an outstanding artist.

The well-known American actor Leonardo DiCaprio met the play of Stanisław Szukalski when he was a little boy – Szukalski was friends with the star’s family and the boy called him his “Polish grandfather”. In the collections of the Museum of the City and River Warta you can even find photos of little Leonardo on his lap at Szukalski. Di Caprio promised himself years ago that he would once honor the artist he met in his childhood. In the end he succeeded.

2. The mill and the cross

We enter the world of Pieter Bruegel’s painting “The Way of the Cross”, which was created in 1564. while telling the story of twelve people immortalized on canvas. The famous work was inspired by a biblical story, he also referred to the religious-nationality that took place in those days in the Netherlands. Director Lech Majewski revived the characters in the picture and looks at their lives allowing them to tell their stories. The artist Pieter Bruegel also appears, who explains to viewers how his great work was created.

3. Goya’s ghosts

This is another brilliant biographical production of the talented director Milos Forman. This movie is a real feast for the eyes and the spirit – from beautiful costumes to clearly marked characters and the pursuit of universal issues that concern man outside his time and place. Everything happens in conflict-struck Spain, whose dark times he portrayed Francisco de Goya so unusually in his paintings. In the film, attention is drawn to the suggestive images of a country ravaged by the Napoleonic army, interspersed with the disturbing works of Goya.

4. Caravaggio

The extraordinary production of the brilliant director Derek Jarman. This is a very beautiful and successful tribute to one of the greatest artists in the history of world painting. It is also an honest story telling the life of Caravaggio, interwoven with numerous paintings from the painter’s studio. Here, we see scenes from posing models for painted paintings, such as “Death of Mary” or Placing to the Grave. “Jarman uses light and picture in this film, as if he wanted to paint scenes from Caravaggio’s life with his palette.

5. Serafina

The film by Martin Provost from 2008 was highly appreciated by film critics and received as many as seven Caesars (or French Oscars) – including the best film. It tells the story of the life and work of the French painter Séraphine Louis, who, working as a cleaner, was discovered and promoted by the German art collector Wilhelm Ude. She finally became a famous representative of the Art Naive movement, the actress in her paintings liked to use unusual materials, such as earth or blood of dead animals – what she found during her daily walks.

6. Andrei Rublev

It is a momentous Russian drama from 1966, one of the greatest creators of contemporary cinema Andrei Tarkovsky. He talks about the life of the painter-iconographer Andrei Rublev (Anatoly Solonicin). Drifting from place to place in turbulent times, a peace-minded monk gains great recognition, but after witnessing a brutal fight in which he inadvertently engages, he withdraws from the world. The film is recognized worldwide as one of the greatest works of world cinema.

7. Belly of an architect

This is a film by Peter Greenaway, a director who is extremely sensitive to the world of art, who is also a painter himself. The film is a story of an architect who is invited to Rome with his young, attractive wife to organize an exhibition. However, health and obsession with work strongly discourage his wife from her husband, who finds comfort in the arms of a young Italian. The plot is banal, but Greenaway cannot be denied visual artistry achieved thanks to his own visual techniques. The scenes take place in various beautiful places in Rome: in the Pantheon, the Mausoleum of Augustus, at the monument of Victor Emmanuel II or the fountain of Piazza Navona.

8. Picasso: creator and destroyer

Pablo Picasso meets the young Françoise Gilot, who becomes his life companion. The woman is struggling with a difficult relationship with her famous lover, but despite his romances, she still stays with him. Unfortunately, the filmmakers did not receive permission to show the works of the famous painter, which is why this film only shows Picasso’s personal life.

9. Love is the Devil: Sketch for a portrait of Francis Bacon

The film focuses primarily on the artist‘s unbelievable and turbulent relationship with the thief Georg Dyer, who after a failed hack becomes Bacon’s lover. After such a specific beginning of romance, the artist draws his lover into his circle of eccentric friends.

10. Modigliani

The film is set in 1919 in Paris and shows the life story of the famous Italian artist, as well as his tragic romance with Jeanne Hebuterne. This production focuses on the last days of Modigliani’s life, as well as on the artist’s fierce competition with Picasso. The message of the film is very clear: the artist’s faith in his own creativity and passion for art are unconditional and indestructible.

11. Basquiat

The action of this film takes place in New York of the eighties, and the interesting fact is that the scenes from those times were recreated based on the experience of witnesses, acquired at first hand! It tells the story of the short and intense life of a painter of Haitian and Puerto Rican origin, a friend of Andy Warhol – Jean-Michel Basquiat, who died at the age of 27 due to drug overdose. This production shows how quickly the young artist became a famous and very desirable artist creating street art, as well as paintings painted on canvas.

12. Exit through the gift shop

A unique production for fans of street art and Banksy – an artist who turned the street art world on his head, becoming the world’s most famous creator of this trend. In 2010, the artist made a documentary about himself, becoming the narrator of the story of Thierry Guetta, who at some point in the story chases Banksy … The film is full of questions: why the sudden popularity of a street artist? Is it another effect of the influence of mass culture on artists? Does he deserve to be called an artist? For reflection.

13. Frida

In our opinion, this is one of the most beautiful biographical films, produced in 2002. It shows the private life of the extraordinary, colorful, surreal Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo. This film captivates with its beauty and feminine sensitivity, shows the artist’s difficult ice cream, who from early years suffered from serious health problems, she also had no luck in love. Worth to see!

14. Your Vincent

The 2017 animation is another successful film after the life of “Vincent & Theo” about the life of the famous Dutch painter. The film visually impresses by showing the last months of Vincent van Gogh’s life. The most amazing thing is that each of the 65,000 frames of this film was painted by hand by 125 painters in the post-impressionist style of Van Gogh. The film was made 10 years, and modern technology has revived the paintings painted by Van Gogh on the big screen.