Vincent & Theo

Starring: Tim Roth, Paul Rhys

Release: 1990

If you’ve been following this list, right now you might be thinking, “Wait, another Van Gogh movie?” Yes, Vincent & Theo (1990) traces the relationship and lives of brothers Vincent (played by Tim Roth) and Theo (played by Paul Rhys) Van Gogh, the oil portrait artist and his art dealer brother. The film follows the brothers’ turbulent but supportive relationship, as it also documents their individual struggles with mental deterioration. Where Lust for Life presented a dignified and sanitized version of this descent, Vincent & Theo is much more honest and brutal. Vincent’s mental illness is well known, but Theo also battled with mental deterioration caused by syphilis, and the film represents these struggles with a frankness that can be downright scary.

As it emphasizes the inner lives of the portrait painting artist and his brother, the film emphasizes the connection between those inner lives and artistic passion.

Frida

Starring: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina

Release: 2002

Frida (2002) follows the life and work of Frida Kahlo (played here by Salma Hayek) from her youth through her death. The film represents the Mexican surrealist and self portrait painter as influenced primarily by two things: the bus accident that nearly killed her as a teenager and her two turbulent marriages to muralist Diego Rivera (played by Alfred Molina). As it focuses on such a broad expanse of experience, the film proves to embody both the very worst aspects of so-called “biopics” and the very best.

When it comes down to it, a number of the films on this list (particularly Basquiat, Pollock, and Lust for Life) all suffer from the same problem that Frida does: they try to address an entire life in the length of a few short hours, which is nearly impossible. The result is that the life is boiled down to a few events, with pictures of paintings interspersed. This can, unfortunately, give a film a bit of a hollow feel, which does happen sometimes in Frida.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Starring: Colin Firth, Scarlett Johansson

Release: 2003

Girl with a Pearl Earring is a unique entry on this list, primarily in that the artist represented in the film, Johannes Vermeer (played by Colin Firth), really isn’t the movie’s main character. He’s a key figure to be sure and the film offers an interesting perspective on his work, but the story really revolves around a fictional character named Griet (played by Scarlett Johansson), a maid in Vermeer’s home.

After Griet shows an intelligent appreciation for her employer’s work – unsurprising, given that her father was himself a painter before being blinded and losing the use of one hand in an accident – Vermeer begins to view her as a sort of muse, basing paintings on her daily activities (particularly Woman with a Water Jug, shown below) and requesting her assistance in the mixing of paints. Eventually, the film shows her sitting as the subject of the film’s namesake, the stunning and intimate portrait Girl with a Pearl Earring. The film follows Griet’s journey as she enters into domestic servitude, spars with Vermeer’s wife and daughter, and becomes romantically involved with the local butcher’s apprentice, Pieter.

Pollock

Starring: Ed Harris, Marcia Gay Harden

Release: 2000

When is an artist considered a success? When the first canvas is sold? When the work can financially provide a comfortable life? When a piece gives its creator personal satisfaction? Or is there something else that defines success? These questions are central to this week"s film,
Pollock, the 2000 film that portrays Jackson Pollock"s rise to artistic fame and his relationship with his wife, painter Lee Krasner. Beginning shortly before the two painters meet (she seeks him out after learning that they each would have a painting in the same exhibition) and ending with his death, the film investigates the artists" conflicting definitions of success.

Throughout the film, Pollock experiences various landmarks that would seem to indicate artistic success. Peggy Guggenheim features his work in her gallery, invites him to paint a mural for her home, and becomes his official patron. He has individual exhibitions at the Betty Parsons Gallery. He is the subject of a Time article. Photographer Hans Namuth spends several months filming and photographing him. He becomes as much a household name as any contemporary artist can.

Lust for Life

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn

Release: 1956

Lust for Life stars Kirk Douglas and presents the career of Vincent van Gogh, including the influence of his friendships with painters Camille Pissarro, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Paul Gauguin (a part which won Anthony Quinn an Oscar). Although melodramatic at times, the film presents a surprisingly honest portrayal of the artist's life – his live-in relationship with a prostitute, his mental illness, and his suicide are all represented in a fullness that you might not expect from a movie released in 1956.

Sitting to watch this movie, I figured there wouldn't be anything further from the last movie on the list. After all, Andrei Rublev is a fairly inaccessible Soviet era Russian art film, while Lust for Life is a lavish Hollywood biopic. And on first viewing, my expectations were met. Where Andrei Rublev relished its artist's subject more than it celebrated his work and pushed the painter to the sidelines of his own namesake film, Lust for Life savors van Gogh's larger-than-life status. When young van Gogh argues with his instructors in the opening scenes, insisting that he passionately wants nothing more than to become a minister, the movie feels almost too self-aware – it knows that the audience already knows where this story is going and that young Vincent will fail in religious life.