self portrait painting | Oil Painting Express

10 Movies You Should See About Artists: #1 - Vincent & Theo

02

May

2010

Vincent and Theo, Movie Poster, 1990

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.

10 Movies You Should See About Artists: #2 - Artemisia

05

April

2010

Artemisia, Movie Poster, 1997

Artemisia

Starring: Valentina Cervi, Michel Serrault

Release: 1997

Artemisia (1997) follows the early career of Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi, often credited as the first genuinely successful Western female painter. At a time when women were reliant on their male relatives for everything, Gentileschi supported herself, her husband, and their children with her often large original oil paintings. The film ends before any of this occurred, when Gentileschi was a teenager under the tutelage of her father Orazio and the painter Agostino Tassi. In particular, the film focuses on her physical relationship with Tassi, a relationship that would lead to jail time for him.

The film represents their relationship as passionate and intellectual. Their physical and artistic relationships are intertwined – they are shown lying in bed together animatedly debating sketches for her oil painted pictures. When Orazio discovers the affair, the film says, he put Tassi on trial for rape, despite Artemisia’s protestations. In reality, while the facts surrounding the relationship and trial are controversial, this doesn’t seem to have been a grand sweeping love affair.

10 Movies You Should See About Artists: #3 - Frida

22

March

2010

Frida, Movie Poster, 2002

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.