films and documentaries about artists
by paluze | created - 15 Oct 2011 | updated - 2 months ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Lust for Life (1956)
Approved | 122 min | Biography, Drama
The life of brilliant but tortured artist Vincent van Gogh.
Directors: Vincente Minnelli, George Cukor | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, James Donald, Pamela Brown
Votes: 12,511 | Gross: $3.48M
2. Basquiat (1996)
R | 107 min | Biography, Drama
The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.
Director: Julian Schnabel | Stars: Jeffrey Wright, Michael Wincott, Benicio Del Toro, Claire Forlani
Votes: 22,087 | Gross: $2.96M
3. The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
Approved | 138 min | Biography, Drama, History
The biographical story of Michelangelo's troubles while painting the Sistine Chapel at the urging of Pope Julius II.
Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Charlton Heston, Rex Harrison, Diane Cilento, Harry Andrews
Votes: 8,055
4. My Left Foot (1989)
R | 103 min | Biography, Drama
Christy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.
Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Alison Whelan, Kirsten Sheridan
Votes: 79,809 | Gross: $14.74M
5. Frida (2002)
R | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work.
Director: Julie Taymor | Stars: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Mía Maestro
Votes: 95,346 | Gross: $25.89M
6. Art School Confidential (2006)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Starting from childhood attempts at illustration, the protagonist pursues his true obsession to art school. But as he learns how the art world really works, he finds that he must adapt his vision to the reality that confronts him.
Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent
Votes: 17,720 | Gross: $3.30M
7. Surviving Picasso (1996)
R | 125 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
The passionate Merchant Ivory drama tells the story of Françoise Gilot (Natascha McElhone), the only lover of Pablo Picasso (Sir Anthony Hopkins) who was strong enough to withstand his ferocious cruelty, and move on with her life.
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Natascha McElhone, Julianne Moore, Joss Ackland
Votes: 7,891 | Gross: $2.00M
8. Cashback (2006)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After a painful breakup, Ben develops insomnia. To kill time, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket, where his artistic imagination runs wild.
Director: Sean Ellis | Stars: Sean Biggerstaff, Emilia Fox, Michelle Ryan, Erica Ellis
Votes: 90,798 | Gross: $0.02M
9. Crumb (1994)
R | 119 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
An intimate portrait of controversial cartoonist Robert Crumb and his traumatized family.
Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Charles Crumb, Maxon Crumb
Votes: 21,596 | Gross: $3.17M
10. Pollock (2000)
R | 122 min | Biography, Drama
A film about the life and career of the American painter, Jackson Pollock.
Director: Ed Harris | Stars: Ed Harris, Marcia Gay Harden, Robert Knott, Molly Regan
Votes: 29,632 | Gross: $8.60M
11. American Splendor (2003)
R | 101 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.
Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Shari Springer Berman, Harvey Pekar, Chris Ambrose
Votes: 52,375 | Gross: $6.00M
12. Factory Girl (2006)
R | 90 min | Biography, Drama
Based on the rise and fall of socialite Edie Sedgwick, concentrating on her relationships with Andy Warhol and a folk singer.
Director: George Hickenlooper | Stars: Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Hayden Christensen, Jimmy Fallon
Votes: 22,336 | Gross: $1.66M
13. The Science of Sleep (2006)
R | 105 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A man entranced by his dreams and imagination is love-struck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world.
Director: Michel Gondry | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Miou-Miou, Alain Chabat
Votes: 70,897 | Gross: $4.66M
14. Modigliani (2004)
R | 128 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Amedeo Modigliani's bitter rivalry with Pablo Picasso, and his tragic romance with Jeanne Hebuterne.
Director: Mick Davis | Stars: Andy Garcia, Elsa Zylberstein, Omid Djalili, Hippolyte Girardot
Votes: 12,524 | Gross: $0.20M
15. Egon Schiele: Excess and Punishment (1980)
95 min | Biography, Drama
The life of cursed painter Egon Shiele, specialized in nudes, and on his late conflicting love for two women.
Director: Herbert Vesely | Stars: Mathieu Carrière, Jane Birkin, Christine Kaufmann, Kristina van Eyck
Votes: 464
16. Edvard Munch (1974 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 210 min | Biography, Drama, History
This biopic of Norwegian Expressionist painter Edvard Munch focuses on the influences that shaped his art, his devastating affair with a married woman that will haunt him for the rest of his life
Director: Peter Watkins | Stars: Geir Westby, Gro Fraas, Kerstii Allum, Eric Allum
Votes: 3,381 | Gross: $0.04M
17. The Mystery of Picasso (1956)
PG | 78 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A filmed record of Pablo Picasso painting numerous canvases for the camera, allowing us to see his creative process at work.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot | Stars: Pablo Picasso, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Claude Renoir
Votes: 2,701 | Gross: $0.27M
18. Roy Lichtenstein (1991)
53 min | Documentary
Director: Chris Hunt | Stars: Roy Lichtenstein, Melvyn Bragg, William Overgard
Votes: 47
19. How to Draw a Bunny (2002)
90 min | Documentary
Interviews with Christo, Chuck Close, Roy Lichtenstein, Judith Malina, James Rosenquist and others help illuminate the life and work of Warhol contemporary Ray Johnson.
Director: John W. Walter | Stars: Joseph Ialacci, Richard Feigen, Frances Beatty, Mort Janklow
Votes: 610 | Gross: $0.00M
20.
American Masters (1985– )
Episode:
Andy Warhol: A Documentary
(2006)
TV-14 | 240 min | Documentary, Biography, History
Ric Burns unearths rarely seen footage and offers keen observations on the life and artistic influence of Andy Warhol.
Director: Ric Burns | Stars: Laurie Anderson, Irving Blum, DeVeren Bookwalter, Marlon Brando
Votes: 423
21. Simon Schama's Power of Art (2006)
60 min | Documentary, Drama, History
Focusing on eight iconic works of art, Power of Art reveals the history of visual imagination through the ages.
Stars: Simon Schama, Allan Corduner, Paul Popplewell, Grégoire Bonnet
Votes: 1,147
22. The Private Life of a Masterpiece (2001–2011)
50 min | Documentary
Stars: Samuel West, Richard Cork, Jonathan Jones, John House
Votes: 243
23. Artemisia (1997)
R | 98 min | Biography, Drama, History
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) was one of the first well-known female painters. The movie tells the story of her youth, when she was guided and protected by her father, the painter ... See full summary »
Director: Agnès Merlet | Stars: Valentina Cervi, Michel Serrault, Predrag 'Miki' Manojlovic, Luca Zingaretti
Votes: 2,206 | Gross: $0.38M
24. Goya in Bordeaux (1999)
R | 100 min | Biography, Drama, War
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), deaf and ill, lives the last years of his life in voluntary exile in Bordeaux, a Liberal protesting the oppressive rule of Ferdinand VII. He's living with his ... See full summary »
Director: Carlos Saura | Stars: Francisco Rabal, Jose Coronado, Dafne Fernández, Eulàlia Ramon
Votes: 2,307 | Gross: $0.72M
25. Seraphine (2008)
Unrated | 125 min | Biography, Drama
In 1912 German collector Wilhelm Uhde rents a flat in Senlis to write and take a break from Parisian life. He hires a 48-year old cleaning lady, Séraphine. Some time later, he notices a small painting on wood at a local notable home.
Director: Martin Provost | Stars: Yolande Moreau, Ulrich Tukur, Anne Bennent, Geneviève Mnich
Votes: 6,546 | Gross: $0.88M
26. Rembrandt (1936)
Not Rated | 85 min | Biography, Drama
The respected painter takes to drink and faces down scandal after his wife dies.
Director: Alexander Korda | Stars: Charles Laughton, Gertrude Lawrence, Elsa Lanchester, Edward Chapman
Votes: 1,989
27. Camille Claudel (1988)
R | 175 min | Biography, Drama, History
Camille Claude impresses already-famous sculptor Auguste Rodin. He hires her as an assistant, but soon Camille begins to sculpt for herself and she also becomes his mistress. But after a while, she would like to get out of his shadow.
Director: Bruno Nuytten | Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Gérard Depardieu, Madeleine Robinson, Laurent Grévill
Votes: 7,396 | Gross: $0.20M
28. Montparnasse 19 (1958)
Not Rated | 108 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
About the last years of the life of the great artist Modigliani. A poor Italian artist suffering from alcoholism and opium addiction falls in love with Jeanne, a girl from a wealthy family whose parents are categorically against it.
Director: Jacques Becker | Stars: Gérard Philipe, Lilli Palmer, Anouk Aimée, Lila Kedrova
Votes: 1,678
29. The Life of Leonardo Da Vinci (1971)
300 min | Biography, History
Miniseries dramatizing the life of the Italian Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519).
Stars: Philippe Leroy, Giulio Bosetti, Giorgio Piazza, Bruno Piergentili
Votes: 436
30. Caravaggio (1986)
93 min | Biography, Drama, History
A retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century painter through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.
Director: Derek Jarman | Stars: Noam Almaz, Dexter Fletcher, Nigel Terry, Sean Bean
Votes: 7,024 | Gross: $0.00M
31. Vincent & Theo (1990)
PG-13 | 138 min | Biography, Drama
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.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Tim Roth, Paul Rhys, Adrian Brine, Jean-François Perrier
Votes: 4,207 | Gross: $2.23M
32. Van Gogh (1991)
R | 158 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The final sixty-seven days of Van Gogh's life are examined.
Director: Maurice Pialat | Stars: Jacques Dutronc, Alexandra London, Bernard Le Coq, Gérard Séty
Votes: 3,310 | Gross: $0.14M
33. I Shot Andy Warhol (1996)
R | 103 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Valerie Solanas, a '60s radical who preached misandry in her "Scum" manifesto. She wrote a screenplay for a film that she wanted Andy Warhol to produce, but after he repeatedly ignored her, she shot him.
Director: Mary Harron | Stars: Lili Taylor, Jared Harris, Martha Plimpton, Lothaire Bluteau
Votes: 7,120 | Gross: $1.81M
34. Lautrec (1998)
125 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Life, passion, love...all these were part of Toulouse-Lautrec's art. His artistic development among the masters of the postimpressionism.
Director: Roger Planchon | Stars: Régis Royer, Elsa Zylberstein, Anémone, Claude Rich
Votes: 699
35. Painted Fire (2002)
Unrated | 120 min | Biography, Drama, History
In a time of political and social unrest in nineteenth-century Korea, an uncouth, self-taught painter explores his natural talent amidst the repressive world around him.
Director: Im Kwon-taek | Stars: Choi Min-sik, Ahn Sung-ki, Yoo Ho-jeong, Kim Yeo-jin
Votes: 2,824 | Gross: $0.06M
36. Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
PG-13 | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
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.
Director: Peter Webber | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth, Tom Wilkinson, Judy Parfitt
Votes: 82,679 | Gross: $11.63M
37. Caravaggio (2007 TV Movie)
180 min | Biography, History
The tumultuous and adventurous life of Michelangelo Merisi, controversial artist, called by Fate to become the immortal Caravaggio. A violent genius that will dare to defy the ideal vision ... See full summary »
Director: Angelo Longoni | Stars: Alessio Boni, Elena Sofia Ricci, Jordi Mollà, Paolo Briguglia
Votes: 391
38. Little Ashes (2008)
R | 112 min | Biography, Drama, History
About the young life and loves of artist Salvador Dalí, filmmaker Luis Buñuel and writer Federico García Lorca.
Director: Paul Morrison | Stars: Robert Pattinson, Javier Beltrán, Matthew McNulty, Marina Gatell
Votes: 9,626 | Gross: $0.48M
39. Georgia O'Keeffe (2009 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 89 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Biopic of American artist Georgia O'Keeffe and her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz.
Director: Bob Balaban | Stars: Joan Allen, Jeremy Irons, Ed Begley Jr., Kathleen Chalfant
Votes: 965
40. Andrei Rublev (1966)
R | 189 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life, times and afflictions of the fifteenth-century Russian iconographer St. Andrei Rublev.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolay Grinko, Nikolay Sergeev
Votes: 57,070 | Gross: $0.10M
41. The Adventures of Picasso (1978)
88 min | Biography, Comedy
Already in his childhood, Pablo Picasso shows talent for painting and is sent to the Academy of Arts in Madrid. He becomes a painter but has to live in Paris in poverty. One day he is ... See full summary »
Director: Tage Danielsson | Stars: Gösta Ekman, Hans Alfredson, Margaretha Krook, Lena Olin
Votes: 3,928
42. Oviri (1986)
R | 90 min | Biography, Drama
This biographical film, based on the life of French artist Paul Gauguin (Donald Sutherland), follows the painter as he returns to Paris after a long stay in Tahiti and must confront his wife, his children, and his former lover.
Director: Henning Carlsen | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Max von Sydow, Jean Yanne, Sofie Gråbøl
Votes: 469 | Gross: $0.58M
43. Goya's Ghosts (2006)
R | 113 min | Biography, Drama, History
Painter Francisco Goya faces a scandal involving his muse, who is labeled a heretic by a monk.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård, Randy Quaid
Votes: 31,955 | Gross: $1.00M
44. Nightwatching (2007)
R | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
An extravagant, exotic and moving look at Rembrandt's romantic and professional life, and the controversy he created by the identification of a murderer in the painting 'The Night Watch'.
Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Martin Freeman, Emily Holmes, Eva Birthistle, Jodhi May
Votes: 3,451
45. Dream of Light (1992)
133 min | Documentary, Biography
The artist Antonio López tries to capture the sunlight hitting his quince tree all autumn, but the struggle seems futile.
Director: Víctor Erice | Stars: Antonio López, María Moreno, Enrique Gran, María López
Votes: 2,125
46. Csontváry (1980)
112 min | Drama
Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka the one-ideaed Hungarian painter was thought to be crazy by his peers, but he eventually became a significant artist.
Director: Zoltán Huszárik | Stars: Itschak Fintzi, István Holl, Andrea Drahota, Margit Dajka
Votes: 250
47. The Mill and the Cross (2011)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama, History
This movie focuses on a dozen of the five hundred characters depicted in Bruegel's painting. The theme of Christ's suffering is set against religious persecution in Flanders in 1564.
Director: Lech Majewski | Stars: Rutger Hauer, Michael York, Charlotte Rampling, Joanna Litwin
Votes: 4,430 | Gross: $0.31M
48. The Garden of Earthly Delights (2004)
103 min | Drama
After she learns that she has cancer of the larynx, Claudia decides to spend her days in Venice. Her obsession with Bosch leads the two to make a garden's visions real through sensual close-ups.
Director: Lech Majewski | Stars: Claudine Spiteri, Chris Nightingale, Barry Chipperfield, Maria Novella Martinoli
Votes: 353
49. Moulin Rouge (1952)
Not Rated | 119 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Fictional account of French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
Director: John Huston | Stars: José Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Suzanne Flon, Claude Nollier
Votes: 6,525 | Gross: $11.81M
50. The Pillow Book (1995)
Not Rated | 126 min | Drama
A woman with a body-writing fetish seeks to find a combined lover and calligrapher.
Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Vivian Wu, Ewan McGregor, Yoshi Oida, Ken Ogata
Votes: 13,649 | Gross: $2.29M
51. The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A young artist is commissioned by the wife of a wealthy landowner to make a series of drawings of the estate while her husband is away.
Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Anthony Higgins, Janet Suzman, Anne-Louise Lambert, Hugh Fraser
Votes: 11,091
52. The Moderns (1988)
R | 126 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A struggling artist is hired to forge paintings, causing him to cross paths with his ex-wife and her powerful new husband.
Director: Alan Rudolph | Stars: Keith Carradine, Linda Fiorentino, Wallace Shawn, Geneviève Bujold
Votes: 2,035 | Gross: $2.01M
53. The Horse's Mouth (1958)
Approved | 97 min | Comedy
An ill-behaved, lovably scruffy painter, Gulley Jimson, searches for a perfect canvas, determined to let nothing come between himself and the realization of his exalted vision.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Alec Guinness, Kay Walsh, Renee Houston, Mike Morgan
Votes: 3,864
54. La Belle Noiseuse (1991)
Unrated | 238 min | Drama
The former famous painter Frenhofer revisits an abandoned project using the girlfriend of a young visiting artist. Questions about truth, life, and artistic limits are explored.
Director: Jacques Rivette | Stars: Michel Piccoli, Jane Birkin, Emmanuelle Béart, Marianne Denicourt
Votes: 9,372 | Gross: $0.41M
55. Renoir (2012)
R | 111 min | Biography, Drama, History
Set on the French Riviera in the summer of 1915, Jean Renoir -- son of the Impressionist painter, Pierre-Auguste -- returns home to convalesce after being wounded in World War I. At his ... See full summary »
Director: Gilles Bourdos | Stars: Michel Bouquet, Christa Théret, Vincent Rottiers, Thomas Doret
Votes: 5,994 | Gross: $2.29M
56. Camille Claudel 1915 (2013)
Not Rated | 95 min | Biography, Drama
Winter, 1915. Confined by her family to an asylum in the South of France - where she will never sculpt again - the chronicle of Camille Claudel's reclusive life, as she waits for a visit from her brother, Paul Claudel.
Director: Bruno Dumont | Stars: Juliette Binoche, Jessica Errero, Robert Leroy, Jean-Luc Vincent
Votes: 3,937 | Gross: $0.02M
57. Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)
Unrated | 87 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Biography of British painter Francis Bacon focuses on his relationship with his lover, George Dyer, a former small time crook.
Director: John Maybury | Stars: Derek Jacobi, Daniel Craig, Tilda Swinton, Anne Lambton
Votes: 3,996 | Gross: $0.34M
58. Maudie (2016)
PG-13 | 115 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
An arthritic Nova Scotia woman works as a housekeeper while she hones her skills as an artist and eventually becomes a beloved figure in the community.
Director: Aisling Walsh | Stars: Sally Hawkins, Ethan Hawke, Zachary Bennett, Gabrielle Rose
Votes: 21,574 | Gross: $6.17M
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